LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 

Philip Freneau 
 
 The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 A History of His Life and Times 
 
 By 
 Mary S. Austin 
 
 Edited by Helen Kearny Vreeland 
 
 Great-granddaughter of the Poet 
 
 Descriptas servare vices, operumque colores 
 Cur ego, si nequeo ignoroque, poeta salutor 
 
 HORACE 
 
 New York 
 A. Wessels Company 
 
 MDCCCCI 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY 
 A. WESSELS COMPANY 
 
 UNIVERSITY PRESS JOHN WILSON 
 AND SON CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES 
 
 OF 
 
 AMERICA 
 
Author s Preface 
 
 THERE is nothing new in this book, kind reader, 
 for, if Solomon proved to his satisfaction that 
 there is " nothing new under the sun," presumptuous 
 indeed would it be in me to think to have succeeded 
 in that wherein the wisest of men has failed. 
 
 M. Bautain, in his admirable treatise, 1 speaks of 
 two methods of conceiving a subject : the one direct 
 by means of illumination, the other indirect and within 
 the reach of ordinary minds. He says it is difficult 
 to be original upon subjects already treated of; but a 
 second sort of originality consists in giving forth ideas 
 that have become incorporated in one s own, and have 
 been quickened with the life of one s own mind, which 
 is called " taking possession in the finder s name." 
 
 This latter process, he continues, consists in acting 
 as does the bee, which extracts from the flowers the 
 aromatic and oleaginous particles, that serve to form 
 the honey and the wax. " Be it well observed," he 
 says, " that the bee first nourishes itself with these sub 
 stances by the process of absorption and assimilation." 
 
 Therefore, kind reader, if in perusing this imperfect 
 work you should find that which is familiar to you, 
 remember it is not solely with the intention of giving 
 
 1 Bautain on " Extempore Speaking." 
 
 vii 
 
Preface 
 
 you the new that it is written. " Non nova, sed nove" 
 says Vincent of Lerins not new, but in a new form. 
 I claim no originality in the treatment of my subject ; 
 my efforts have been directed rather to presenting 
 in the best light the character and times of the subject 
 of our biography, than to the endeavor to appear orig 
 inal. When this end could be the better attained by 
 making use of the words of others, I have done so ; as 
 most of the information they have received has 
 emanated from the same sources as my own; namely, 
 the relatives of the subject of this work, and likewise 
 of the author. 
 
 An author 1 has deplored the fact that there are 
 hundreds of names of men who have rendered the 
 most important services to their country, that have 
 been suffered to sink to the grave " unwept, unhon- 
 ored, and unsung/ and in a great measure it has been 
 this thought that has prompted me to do what lies in 
 my power to keep alive the memory of one who, born 
 almost a century and a half ago, had an influence in 
 the colonies during their struggle for independence 
 that is said to have been very great. 
 
 I speak of Philip Morin Freneau, the " Poet of the 
 Revolution." 
 
 Although in Freneau s case we .may not hold as 
 strictly true the words of the author above quoted, 
 inasmuch as from time to time able and interesting 
 articles upon his life and writings have appeared, still 
 from paucity of data these have been fragmentary and 
 somewhat erroneous, owing in part to the disastrous fire 
 
 1 Thomas. 
 
 viii 
 
Prefa 
 
 ace 
 
 that consumed Mont Pleasant, the poet s homestead, 
 in which were consumed, along with much of his un 
 published poetry, many valuable letters and manu 
 scripts that would have given abundant matter for a 
 most interesting work. 
 
 Since undertaking the task of giving to the public the 
 Life of Freneau, some unexpected data in the form of 
 notebooks and marginal notes have thrown light upon 
 some hitherto unaccounted-for years in the poet s life, 
 and have served to link together the portions already 
 given to the public, as well as to correct many mis- 
 statements. 
 
 Appreciating the fact that the life of a man is in 
 reality a history of the times in which he has lived, 
 and that the value of history depends as much on its 
 veracity as upon the matter, I have endeavored to 
 gain an accurate insight into the times, as well as the 
 life of the man. I am enabled, consequently, to say 
 that what I have stated as facts are in accordance with 
 history, whereas such things as have not been proved 
 are given as probabilities. 
 
 As one can judge of the works of a person being 
 great or small only by comparing them with those of 
 others, as well as by their effect upon posterity, I leave 
 all judgment to my readers, contented with merely 
 supplying the facts. 
 
 As no less than fifteen authors, possibly more, have 
 written upon this subject, most of them being authors 
 of repute, I have drawn entirely upon them for the 
 matter contained in the chapter devoted to Freneau s 
 poetry and prose compositions, bestowing all eulogy in 
 
 m 
 
Prefc 
 
 ace 
 
 their words, as praise comes not well from interested 
 parties, and criticism is not pleasant to one to whom 
 the object is endeared by association with loved ones. 
 With Mr. Julian Verplanck, his friend and reviewer, 
 one would rather 
 
 " With full applause in honour to his age, 
 Dismiss the veteran poet from the stage ; 
 Crown his last exit with distinguished praise, 
 And kindly hide his baldness with the bays." 
 
Table of Contents 
 
 Page 
 
 PREFACE ix 
 
 REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES I 
 
 NEW YORK IN YE OLDEN TIME 12 
 
 HUGUENOTS IN AMERICA 32 
 
 THE FOUNDER AND HIS FAMILY IN AMERICA 49 
 
 FRENEAU S YOUTHFUL DAYS 69 
 
 GEN. JOHN MORIN SCOTT 89 
 
 CAPTURE OF THE AURORA 104 
 
 ALMOST A DECADE OF YEARS 121 
 
 FRENEAU S POLITICAL LIFE 147 
 
 PEACE AFTER WAR 176 
 
 FRENEAU AS AN AUTHOR 211 
 
 His FAMILY AND RELATIVES 227 
 
 THE RISING GLORY OF AMERICA 237 
 
 APPENDIX 253 
 
 INDEX OF NAMES 279 
 
List of Illustrations 
 
 Philip Freneau (Photogravure) Frontispiece 
 
 TO FACI PACK 
 
 Church du St. Esprit 56 
 
 Agnes Watson, Mother of Philip Freneau .... 72 
 
 National Gazette 158 
 
 The Poet s Grave 210 
 
 Agnes Watson Freneau Leadbeater 228 
 
PHILIP FRENRAU 
 
 The Poet of the Revolution 
 Chapter First 
 
 IN relation to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 
 much has been written by authors holding very 
 different sentiments. 
 
 With some, we should deem the Huguenots an inof 
 fensive and deeply wronged people, persecuted solely 
 on account of their religious convictions ; according 
 to others, we should look upon Louis Quatorze as 
 a forbearing monarch, one who, being in imminent 
 danger of having his kingdom wrested from him and 
 its religion subverted, was compelled to act upon the 
 defensive. 
 
 Some represent the Huguenots as bearing injuries 
 inflicted upon them with fortitude, and suffering per 
 secutions even to martyrdom for their religion ; others 
 depict the king as pursuing his rigorous course through 
 the purest of motives, and to such an extent only as 
 to repress the continual revolts of his rebellious sub 
 jects ; they would cause us to hear him say to his 
 intendants, " Je vous recommande surtout de menager 
 avec douceur les esprits de ceux de la dite religion ;" 
 and to listen to his censure of one governor for pursu 
 ing a different course ; and to learn of the recall of 
 another for the same offence. 
 
 In the year of our Lord 1685, that which saw the 
 Edict of Nantes revoked, France was divided into two 
 parties ; the dominant one being that of the Crown, 
 headed by Louis Quatorze, a prince as scrupulous 
 and inflexible in matters regarding the faith he pro- 
 
 w / 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 fessed as he was unscrupulous and lax in the morals 
 he practised. Intolerant of any opinion not his own, 
 he condemned freedom of conscience in his subjects as 
 tantamount to rebellion against his kingly authority. 
 In religion, as in other matters, he would be absolute. 
 
 The minor party, that of the Huguenots, or Calvin- 
 ists, still retained the characteristics sternly impressed 
 upon it by its founder ; which caused its adherents to 
 live a life as totally at variance with that of their coun 
 trymen as was their belief. The severe and inflexible 
 decrees of Almighty God, and the impotence of 
 man s will in influencing his own destiny, being the 
 basis of the Huguenot s creed, it produced in him a 
 rigid severity of morals which, repressing all the nat 
 ural instincts and emotions, caused a corresponding 
 austerity of manner in his private life ; while his nat 
 ural independence of character, joined to the conviction 
 of the hopelessness of his cause, gave him an air of 
 defiance in his public demeanor and intercourse with 
 the outer world. The former party, powerful and all- 
 important, were as arrogant as such characteristics usu 
 ally cause their possessors to become ; while the other, 
 no longer of political importance and consequently 
 possessed of no influence at court, bowed to the inevi 
 table, and, although subdued, were not conquered. 
 
 Cardinal de Richelieu, upon his elevation to the 
 prime ministry, set himself to the accomplishment of 
 three things ; and having already effected two of them, 
 namely, the humiliation of Austria and the extinction 
 of feudalism, turned his attention to the one that lay 
 nearest home, the subjugation and conversion of the 
 Huguenots. 
 
 Their subjugation he had effected in the year 1628 
 by the siege and possession of La Rochelle, which had 
 been followed by the reduction of Montauban, the 
 last stronghold of the Huguenots in France. 
 
 The terms of capitulation at La Rochelle had been 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 liberal in the extreme, far more so than the besieged 
 had dared to hope; 1 and since the treaty signed at 
 Alais in 1629 difference in religion had never prevented 
 the cardinal from rendering the conquered all sorts of 
 good offices, nor had it caused him to make any dis 
 tinction between Frenchmen in the fulfilment of the 
 duties of his office. 2 Notwithstanding the late revolt 
 of the Rochellese, he had continued to protect the re 
 ligious as well as the civil rights guaranteed to them 
 by Henri Quatre in 1598, in what is known as the 
 " Edict of Nantes." 
 
 But in regard to their conversion, even the sagacious 
 Richelieu was mistaken, perhaps for the first time in 
 his political career. The peaceful submission of the 
 Huguenots was only the result of necessity. Their 
 ambitious hopes crushed, their numbers depleted by 
 the many wars they had undertaken, as well as the 
 abandonment of their cause by the greater number of 
 their nobility, had combined to oblige them to relin 
 quish all hopes for the future, and set themselves to the 
 work of repairing the sad effects of the last war ; 
 consequently those districts of France inhabited by 
 them soon began to present their former appearance of 
 fertility and thriftiness. 
 
 Excluded from higher pursuits, those of the Hugue 
 nots whose means permitted them to do so, lived in 
 retirement; devoting themselves to the management 
 of their estates, or else engaging in commerce, which 
 they soon controlled to a considerable extent. Others 
 turned their energies toward the development of the 
 different manufactures in which, by their close appli 
 cation and enterprise, they soon excelled to such a 
 degree as to cause some of its branches to become 
 almost a monopoly with them. 
 
 With returning prosperity and a steady increase of 
 population, the Huguenots began to raise their heads 
 
 1 Ozaneau. 2 Richelieu s own testimony 
 
 m 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 again ; and, as their religious as well as civil rights 
 were secured to them, their academies soon became 
 national synods ; and they have been charged with 
 infractions of several of the articles of the Edict. 
 
 Deprived, by death, of the counsels of the sagacious 
 Richelieu and the prudent Mazarin, and likewise of 
 the politic advice of the displaced Colbert, Louis, 
 encouraged by the fanatical, war-loving Louvois, deter 
 mined upon taking more effective measures to hasten 
 the conversion of the Huguenots which he was so 
 desirous of bringing about. 
 
 By degrees many of the privileges guaranteed to 
 them were curtailed ; and they, fearing lest in time 
 they might see the Edict rendered null, began to hold 
 their assemblies as in days gone by ; and, as in those 
 times, force was now likewise used to prevent them, 
 sometimes indeed to such a degree as to cause blood 
 shed. Symptoms of insurrection in the southern and 
 western portions of France caused Louis to realize 
 that the spirit of Calvin yet lived ; and that the 
 Huguenots were still a political body which might 
 give cause for alarm. "It is necessary to recognize 
 this fact," says Poole, " in order to render the attitude 
 of Louis towards them intelligible. This has been 
 denied persistently by them and their descendants, 
 and its assertion is stigmatized as an attempt to vin 
 dicate conduct which, judged by its results, is in a 
 supreme degree indefensible. But the truth is that, 
 from this point of view of the national disaster, the 
 recall of the Edict, setting the whole world in an 
 attitude hostile to Louis, stands at so indefinite a 
 height among the follies of statesmen that no exagger 
 ation of fact can aggravate it ; for this very reason we 
 should grasp at anything which, while it cannot palliate 
 it, may serve to explain its stupendous mistake." 
 
 At the king s council held October 2, 1685, the 
 Act of Revocation was passed by a unanimous vote, 
 
Poet of the Revolution 
 
 and Louis signed the declaration to be sent to the 
 different intendants of the provinces, to be read by 
 them in public. 
 
 In concert with his minister, Louvois, he now set 
 about the prosecution of the work with all the vigor 
 of which he was capable. The dragonade was estab 
 lished, and cruelty succeeded cruelty. Threats, im 
 prisonment, and death followed each other, the latter 
 by single murders and public massacres, until it 
 seemed that the heresy would be extinguished in 
 blood. 
 
 The only alternative for the proud-spirited Hugue 
 nots was to abjure their faith or suffer the penalty. 
 Escape was prohibited under pain of the galleys if 
 they were caught in the act. Many of the Huguenots 
 that lived in the shadow of the court abjured their 
 religion; others, along with gentlemen living in the 
 provinces, men of commerce and manufacturers, deter 
 mined to leave their native land, however hazardous 
 the attempt might be. 
 
 The depopulation of his kingdom had no part in 
 the king s intention ; therefore he ordered the ports to 
 be closed and the frontiers to be closely guarded, 
 thinking thus to prevent the threatened exodus ; but 
 determined men are not easily thwarted in their 
 designs, and many ways were devised to elude the 
 vigilance of the officials. 
 
 In many cases gold proved the "open sesame" of 
 closed ports and guarded frontiers ; disguises also and 
 second-hand passports served to pass many across the 
 boundaries, and frequently bales of merchandise came 
 to life when safely stowed away in the holds of friendly 
 ships. 
 
 As the Protestant countries offered hospitality to 
 the refugees, some sought homes in Holland and 
 others in Switzerland. They were obliged to make 
 their way thither during the darkness of the night, 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 concealing themselves by day, and crossing the fron 
 tiers by the least frequented roads. Many found 
 means of crossing to England, notwithstanding the 
 precautions taken to prevent them from doing so. 
 
 Certainly, the migration of such numbers of indus 
 trious people could not but make itself felt throughout 
 the kingdom, and it did paralyze commerce and manu 
 factures to a great extent. It being impossible to 
 ascertain the exact number of refugees, each historian 
 seems to have set down figures according to his own 
 conjecture; consequently the numbers are in some 
 cases undoubtedly exaggerated. Hume has estimated 
 the exodus to have cost France half a million of her 
 subjects, and many have accepted his statement. 
 Larrey, Jurieu, and Benoit give as a total two hun 
 dred thousand, Basnage, one hundred and fifty thou 
 sand, Caveirac fifty-five thousand, and others seventy, 
 and sixty thousand. The Duke of Burgundy, of 
 whose opportunity of ascertaining the nearest ap 
 proach to the correct figures and of whose sincerity 
 in stating them an historian has assured us, 1 asserts 
 their number not to have exceeded sixty-eight 
 thousand. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the loss of even the 
 least of these numbers of subjects did affect the 
 material prosperity of France ; and this fact was most 
 probably the cause of the unwillingness of Louis to 
 have the Huguenots leave his kingdom. And here 
 likewise historians differ. Some assert that their 
 migration was the ruin of the country, while, on the 
 contrary, others say that the disadvantage to France 
 has been greatly overstated. Tessereau, the king s 
 intendant, says: "Although the refugees from La 
 Rochelle were from amongst the principal inhabitants, 
 both in regard of substance and reputation, the gener 
 ality of the emigrants were those who either had little 
 
 iFredet. 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 or nothing, or were compelled to leave what they had 
 behind them/ Certainly the majority were obliged 
 to receive assistance from the countries in which they 
 sought refuge, instead of enriching them as some 
 would believe. 
 
 They did take with them, however, a vast amount 
 of energy, industry, and a knowledge of manufacture, 
 along with the germs of the principles of the demo 
 cratic government they afterwards helped to establish 
 in the new world, and a corresponding love for 
 freedom, and hatred of monarchial forms of govern 
 ment, and all that savored of royalty. 
 
 With their loss agriculture declined, and likewise 
 the culture of the vine; consequently the domestic 
 supply and the foreign trade in wines were cut off. 
 Imports failed, as the links of commerce were sun 
 dered; weaving also suffered greatly. Yet, notwith 
 standing all this, some writers have declared that, 
 instead of being a misfortune to France, the king 
 received congratulations because this emigration freed 
 his kingdom from rebellious subjects whose loss would 
 soon be made good. 
 
 The greatest misfortune would seem to lie in the 
 fact of a mother country so treating her children as 
 to oblige them to seek a home on foreign shores, even 
 were the reproach of one of the exiles to his fellow 
 refugees merited, of having caused these extreme 
 measures by their own conduct ; to which he added 
 a second, saying that the laws of most of the Protes 
 tant countries against Catholics were more severe than 
 those of Catholic princes against Protestants. 1 
 
 Those of the refugees that reached Switzerland im 
 mediately became incorporated into its civil as well 
 as religious life, while those that succeeded in reach 
 ing Holland joined the Walloons, and some of them 
 eventually reached the shores of the new world in 
 
 1 Avis aux Refugies, Bayle. 
 
 [7] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Dutch ships. Others again that sought permanent 
 homes or a temporary asylum upon the English coast 
 found in some localities French Protestant churches 
 with the surplus of a fund, raised some years previously, 
 and which was now devoted either to their maintenance 
 or to defray their expenses to some of the British col 
 onies in the new world. 
 
 Those of the exiles that settled in England adopted 
 the established religion, alleging, as a reason for so do 
 ing, that the kindness received from the country as 
 well as the church made such a step a duty for them; 
 but others, so long as they were not obliged to re 
 nounce it, clung to the form of religion in use in their 
 native land. Those that intended to make their future 
 home in the colonies adopted, for the time being, the 
 form of the established church. 
 
 During their sojourn in England, the wealthier and 
 more intelligent of the refugees had the opportunity 
 of gaining information regarding the different British 
 colonies, and had leisure to mature plans for their 
 future. Many of them had relatives or acquaintances 
 in the new world, and, after some correspondence with 
 them, their future course was decided. 
 
 Such of the refugees as had foreseen their flight, had 
 left their property in the care of friends, who afterwards 
 contrived to transmit at least a portion of it to the 
 owners. To such, although saddened by reverses and 
 separation from friends and country, the future did 
 not present such a dreary aspect as it did to those who 
 had only their passage money, or not even that. The 
 latter were obliged to trust their future in the hands 
 of some captain willing to convey them to the some 
 times very distant port to which the vessel was bound. 
 
 None of the French vessels being of sufficient size 
 to cross the Atlantic, the poor Huguenots were usually 
 landed upon some European coast, were they fortunate 
 enough to reach it alive ; for the voyage was full of dan- 
 
 [*] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 ger, and the captains often unskilful. Many of the 
 exiles found homes in the bosom of the deep. 
 
 The American colonies were desirous of receiving 
 the refugees. Massachusetts and South Carolina had 
 agents in England to make proposals to them. Wil 
 liam Penn would fain have their assistance in the form 
 ing of his new colony, and Virginia offered them land 
 at trifling cost and even as a gift, provided they would 
 settle upon it. 
 
 Many of the refugees took out papers of naturaliza 
 tion before they left England. Others, loath to cut 
 the slender tie that united them to their native land, 
 deferred the act until they should reach the precise 
 locality in which they should decide to settle. 
 
 When Charles II. first invited the Huguenots to 
 England, he led them to believe that by one general 
 act, they all would receive the benefits of naturalization ; 
 but this idea was not realized. For a long time they 
 were allowed to obtain under the royal seal a grant 
 by which they might secure to themselves and families 
 all the rights, immunities, and privileges enjoyed by 
 free-born citizens ; the only obligation being that of 
 actual residence in England or within its dominions: 
 but several exactions were made; among which was 
 a certificate proving that they had received commun 
 ion, and another promising they would take the oath 
 of allegiance and supremacy within a year. 
 
 In 1671 Virginia passed an act giving to all aliens, 
 that desired to become citizens the liberties, privileges 
 and immunities of those born within the British do 
 minions upon their presenting a petition to the As 
 sembly, and taking the usual oath of supremacy and 
 allegiance. New York passed a similar act in 1686, 
 and South Carolina did the same in 1691. 
 
 Escape from their country was not, however, the sole 
 solicitude of the exiles. By it one step might be accom 
 plished, but other steps were yet to be taken before 
 
 \9\ 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 their lives could assume a peaceful tenor. First was 
 the passage across the great ocean that lay between 
 them and the new world in which they hoped to plant 
 their " vine and fig tree ; " after which some time must 
 elapse before they could hope to eat their fruits and 
 rest beneath their shade. 
 
 The passage of the Atlantic was fraught with many 
 dangers. No two vessels ever pursued the same course, 
 as Maury had not yet planned his wind and water-cur 
 rent charts. Chronometers and quadrants were un 
 known to navigation, the compass being the captain s 
 sole assistant. Sometimes, indeed, the ship would be 
 found many degrees out of its intended course, and 
 again approaching to the very coast it had lately 
 quitted. Steam not having been impressed into the 
 service, the small and inferior vessels were the sport 
 of every wind and wave. One moment raised on a 
 mighty billow, the next would find them engulfed in 
 its depths, to be tossed upwards just as the passengers 
 thought to find a watery grave. 
 
 Pirates infested the waters ; consequently, however 
 distant, every sail caused a tremor of anxiety to cap 
 tain, passengers, and crew. Every vessel was obliged 
 to carry guns and ammunition, which occupied the 
 room needed for provisions for such a lengthy voyage, 
 and sometimes they were reduced almost to starvation. 
 Frequently deaths ensued from lack of food as well 
 as from want of medical attendance and the simplest of 
 remedies. 
 
 " Land ho ! " was a joyful cry ; but often it was only 
 the beginning of new dangers, as no pilots were found 
 awaiting them, and no friendly lighthouse warned 
 them of dangerous rocks ; and in case of shipwreck 
 no saving life-boats manned by willing hands and 
 fearless hearts were there to save them. What won 
 der if many of the poor exiles required no earthly 
 home. 
 
 [so] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Provided the landing was successful, who shall de 
 scribe the homesickness of those who had left the 
 most luxurious of all the modern countries, with the 
 refinement of its society and the comforts of the fam 
 ily hearthstone, with its well-known faces and famil 
 iar language, to meet the inconveniencies and privations 
 of a new land, with its strange tongue and unfamiliar 
 countenances ? 
 
 But brighter days were in store for these poor wan 
 derers. To whatever part of the new world they came 
 they brought their industry and enterprise, and prob 
 ably no other class of emigrants contributed more, in 
 proportion to their number, toward the prosperity of 
 the country of their adoption than they. In whatever 
 station of life they belonged they were remarkable for 
 their kindliness and courtesy, as likewise for the re 
 finement, and even elegance of their manners, as well 
 as their mental calibre. 
 
 Of the seven presidents of the Continental Congress, 
 three were of Huguenot parentage : Henry Laurens, 
 John Jay, and Elias Boudinot. Tn New York city 
 and in its vicinity the names of the French refugees 
 are amongst the most prominent ones. 
 
Chapter Second 
 
 EW YORK is settled upon the west end of 
 the island having that small arm of the 
 . sea which divides it from Long Island 
 
 on the south side of it, which runs away eastward to 
 New England, and is navigable though dangerous. 
 For about ten miles from New York is a place called 
 Hel Gat which being a narrow passage, there runneth 
 a violent stream both upon ebb and flood, and in the 
 middle lieth some Islands of rocks, which the current 
 sets so violently upon that it threatens present ship 
 wreck ; and upon the flood is a large whirlpool which 
 continually sends forth a hideous roaring, enough to 
 affright any stranger from passing any further, and to 
 wait for some charm to conduct him through ; yet 
 to those that are well acquainted little or no danger, yet 
 a place of great defence against any enemy coming in 
 that way, which a small fortification would absolutely 
 prevent and necessitate them to come in at the west 
 end of Long Island by Sandy Hook, where Nutten 
 Island doth force them within command of the Fort 
 at New York, which is one of the best Pieces of De 
 fense in the north parts of America. 
 
 " New York is built most of brick and stone and 
 covered with red and black tile, and the land being 
 high, it gives at a distance a pleasing aspect to the 
 spectators. The bay upon the south side which joins 
 to the sea, it is so fortified with bars of sands and 
 shoals, that it is a sufficient defense against any enemy. 
 Upon the south side of Long Island in the winter lie 
 stores of Whales and Crampusses, which the inhabi 
 tants begin with small boats to make a trade, catching 
 
T*he Poet of the Revolution 
 
 to their no small benefit. Also innumerable multitude 
 of seals which make an excellent oil. They lie all the 
 winter upon some broken marshes and beaches or bars 
 of sand before mentioned, and might be easily got were 
 there some skilful men would undertake it. Hudson 
 River runneth by New York northward into the Coun 
 try towards the head of which is seated New Albany (a 
 place of great trade with the Indians) betwixt which and 
 New York being above one hundred miles is as good 
 corn land as the world affords/ 
 
 Such was one of the first published accounts of the 
 colony of New York, written much in the style of 
 Mandeville, and it is probably as accurate a description 
 of Manhattan Island and environs as may be found. 
 
 The " hideous roaring " of Hell Gate has moder 
 ated its tone ; the seals that once basked upon the 
 marshes of southern Long Island have taken them 
 selves to more congenial shores ; and the whales and 
 grampuses that frolicked in its waters probably con 
 tinue their sports in quieter places. The bar, once 
 such an obstacle to navigation, is there no longer ; it 
 has subsided into the harbor bottom or else continues 
 its " meanings " in some other locality, allowing ves 
 sels of the largest size to approach the city except at 
 the lowest tide : this has proved of great benefit to the 
 young colony. 
 
 As a violent storm makes itself known by ripples 
 breaking upon far distant shores, so the great disturb 
 ance in France occasioned by the revocation of the 
 " Edict of Nantes " caused itself to be felt even in 
 the insignificant little colony of New York ; the ma 
 jority of whose inhabitants had scarcely recovered from 
 the shock occasioned by the fact of being handed over, 
 like so much merchandise, into the hands of another 
 sovereign. 
 
 During the years 1685-6 a continuous tide of im 
 migration poured into this obscure colony. Every 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 vessel arriving in its port brought some of the ref 
 ugees; which fact caused a considerable amount of 
 puffing in the long pipes of the Dutch inhabitants, and 
 of increased loquacity amongst the English portion of 
 the colony. 
 
 Not indeed that these good people were unwilling 
 to extend the hospitality of the new world to their 
 unfortunate fellow-creatures, there being quite a suf 
 ficiency of room for all ; but even the best-tempered 
 people are apt to be discomposed at innovations in 
 time-honored customs, and certainly many would be 
 necessitated by the admission of so great a number 
 of persons of a different nationality. 
 
 Indeed they had already commenced. The first 
 and most important of which was a change in the 
 established postal system. 
 
 Although more than a decade of years had passed 
 since the government of the colony as well as its 
 name had been changed, its members still retained the 
 characteristic trait of its former proprietors, evi 
 denced in a degree of phlegmatic temperament rarely 
 met with outside of those in whose veins flow the 
 blood of the settlers from Holland, or perhaps in 
 others who, from constant and intimate association 
 with them, had contracted the same peculiarity. 
 
 The New Yorkers were certainly a slow people. 
 The " hideous roaring " of Hell Gate on the one side 
 of them and the harbor bar on the other, may account 
 for foreign commerce and domestic trade having passed 
 to other ports, thereby increasing the importance of 
 the sister colonies of Philadelphia and Boston : never 
 theless its best friends could call it nothing else but slow. 
 
 In the year 1686 the discontinuance of their postal 
 system called the " Coffee House Delivery," consid 
 ered sufficiently good for the past one hundred years, 
 was the immediate cause of the present disturbance of 
 the even tenor of community life. 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 One should have lived in the days of coffee houses 
 to fully understand the inconvenience of this innova 
 tion. 
 
 During the early days of the Dutch settlement, the 
 population of Nieu Amsterdam being small and com 
 munication with the mother country limited, there had 
 been but little epistolary correspondence, and that little 
 mostly confined to merchants respecting their cargoes. 
 
 It was the custom in those days to hoist the flag of 
 the "Privileged West India Company" upon the flag 
 staff in the old fort, whenever a vessel appeared in 
 sight ; and its orange and blue decoration was the signal 
 for a general turnout of the masculine portion of the 
 community to watch and speculate upon the approach 
 of the ship. 
 
 Upon its arrival, this correspondence was immediately 
 consigned to its respective owners. Those who ex 
 pected any news of either personal or general nature 
 received it by hand in the former case, and in the lat 
 ter contingency by word of mouth. If, perchance, 
 there should be an unclaimed missive it was left in the 
 care of some responsible person until an owner was 
 found to claim it. 
 
 In time, however, the captains of the vessels, find 
 ing sufficient to occupy them besides answering ques 
 tions and delivering letters, placed the latter, upon 
 landing, in the most popular resort in those days, 
 which was the coffee house. From there they were 
 quickly claimed, read, and discussed over cups of fra 
 grant coffee. The finding of owners for unclaimed 
 missives was greatly facilitated by the custom of fas 
 tening them upon a board hung in some conspicuous 
 part of the public room. The endeavor to decipher 
 the almost illegible, and in some cases all but un 
 decipherable, superscriptions helped to pass an idle 
 moment away and also give basis for speculation. 
 
 This custom had been continued even after the 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 English had possession of the settlement, as in the 
 coffee house met all the great and learned men of the 
 place, as well as the wits and visiting celebrities ; and 
 great was the flow of wit and reason over the favorite 
 beverage, as they discussed the news that was inter 
 changed and circulated to an extent that would cast in 
 to the shade the far-famed locutionary powers of the 
 fairer portion of the community but of course men 
 will never admit this. 
 
 In the year of 86 all this was changed, for an of 
 ficial order had been issued that all letters coming by 
 ships should in future be sent direct to the Custom 
 House; consequently the " Coffee House Delivery" 
 became a thing of the past. 
 
 American spirit, however, was not to be thus easily 
 conquered; for when later on the British government 
 started a post office, continental post was likewise started, 
 and patronized to such an extent that the governmental 
 one had very little to do. 
 
 Although letters were no longer distributed there, 
 the coffee houses still held their own in the public af 
 fection as places of general resort ; holding amongst our 
 ancestors the place the club houses of the nineteenth 
 century do to their descendants. There, matters of 
 great importance as well as matters of no importance 
 at all were discussed, from wars and rumors of wars 
 abroad to a runaway horse at home. Every ship ar 
 rival supplied a stock of news to be exchanged or re 
 tailed in greater or lesser quantities as suited the will 
 of the giver and the moderate or immoderate desires 
 of the recipient. 
 
 When the subject of taxation without representation 
 was discussed, and, later on, that of an independent 
 government mooted, the meetings, formerly of a social 
 nature, assumed a seriousness befitting the matters dis 
 cussed, and sittings were long and frequent. It was 
 in the coffee house known as " The City Arms/* which 
 
 [16] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 faced Bowling Green that opposition to the Stamp 
 Act was first started. This old building stood until a 
 comparatively late date, when it was taken down to 
 make way for modern improvements. It was built 
 partly of brick, the sides and rear being of wood, and 
 was surrounded by a garden in which musical enter 
 tainments were given. Tradition says that Benedict 
 Arnold lodged in this house after his treason. 
 
 During British occupation, the coffee houses merely 
 existed. Fraunce s held its own, however, although it 
 was more of a hotel than coffee house proper. This 
 old building is still standing at the corner of Broad 
 and Pearl streets, and has been enlarged, it being at 
 that time only three stories in height; it is of brick 
 and was built in the early part of the eighteenth cen 
 tury by Mr. S. Delancey, who resided in it. It is still 
 quite firm and may be identified by the green marble 
 slab set in the corner, stating that within its walls Wash 
 ington delivered his parting address to the army. After 
 that event it declined in importance. 
 
 After the War of the Revolution, nationality seemed 
 forgotten, and the descendants of the English, Dutch, 
 and French met in a loving brotherhood born of 
 their late common grievances ; and they chose for 
 their place of mutual resort the " Merchants Coffee 
 House," which stood at the corner of Wall and Water 
 streets. It is described as a three-story building, a 
 store occupying the lower part. On the second floor 
 was the " Long Room " in which public meetings were 
 held. Here statesmen and politicians, merchants and 
 literary men, discussed the affairs of the nation over 
 their cups of coffee or tea. 
 
 Amongst its frequenters might be seen the majestic 
 figure of Washington and the angular one of Thomas 
 Jefferson, his political opponent, the brilliant Alex 
 ander Hamilton and the intriguing Aaron Burr, Ben 
 Franklin, who never contradicted any one, and Gouv- 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 erneur Morris, who found fault with every one except 
 General Washington, the refined Chancellor Living 
 ston and that rock of sense, John Jay, George Clinton, 
 the anti-Federal governor, and John Adams with royal 
 istic tendencies, John Morin Scott, the versatile lawyer, 
 and William Bradford, the first public printer of New 
 York, Hugh Gaines, the champion of the free press, 
 and his insatiable satirist, Philip Freneau ; these, and 
 many others perhaps as well known, found ample 
 subject for present discussion and future conjecture. 
 Here Washington was received upon his arrival in 
 the city for the inaugural ceremonies. The Chamber 
 of Commerce held here its first meetings, and the 
 insurance business was started within its walls, as was 
 also the first bank of New York. The compilation 
 of a city directory, " the size of a Westminster Cate 
 chism," was herein essayed, and the " Loyal Sons 
 of St. Andrew " and the " Grand Lodge of Free 
 Masons," as well as many other associations, held 
 their meetings inside its doors ; but with the removal 
 of the national government to Philadelphia its sun 
 sank to rise no more. 
 
 The year 1686 was a marked one in the little 
 colony. The mother country had seemed to awaken 
 to the fact that its infant, and future prodigy, was still 
 acting under the seal of Holland ; and forthwith a 
 larger and more elaborate one was granted it. The 
 same year Governor-General Dongan, who had ac 
 corded a kind reception to the Huguenots since 1683, 
 deemed it necessary to extend the city limits to meet 
 the requirements of the increased population ; he 
 therefore ordered a survey of the northern boundary 
 of the settlement, and a removal of its walls to a more 
 remote locality. 
 
 Hitherto the line of the present Wall Street had 
 been defined by a palisaded work erected as a means 
 of defence against the Indians; it extended the entire 
 
Poet of the Revolution 
 
 width of the island from the shipyard of Rip Van 
 Dam, now comprised in Trinity churchyard, but at 
 that time the western limit of the island, to " Bucther s 
 Pen," adjoining the river on the eastern limit. At 
 the head of Broadway was a large gate, which was 
 closed every evening by the city watch; and nearer 
 the river on the eastern side was another, called the 
 " Water Gate," through which ran the road to the 
 ferry to Breucklin, now Pearl Street. Beyond this 
 gate stood the ferry-house, by the door of which hung 
 a tin horn ; any one desiring to cross, by winding the 
 horn, would summon a boatman to conduct him to 
 the opposite shore, for the moderate sum of one-half 
 cent. 
 
 In many places the works had fallen down ; which 
 rendered the duty of closing the gates at night quite 
 a nominal one; except that the fact of doing so gave 
 the inhabitants a certain sense of security ; which was 
 a great thing in itself. The guns too had disappeared, 
 and the ditches and trenches were in a ruinous 
 condition. 
 
 By the governor s orders, the palisade was removed 
 to the present line of Chamber Street, running from 
 the river bank on the west side to the old Ferry house 
 on the east side, now Catherine Street ; at every short 
 distance a block-house was placed. The line of the 
 old palisade was laid out into a street, which took its 
 name from the wall that had once occupied its place. 
 The streets, that same year, were paved, and they 
 were also lighted by means of lanterns suspended from 
 every seventh house ; and a watch patrolled them all 
 the night, who sang out the hours as they passed. 
 
 The city limits were at that time more circum 
 scribed than at the present ; Greenwich Street then 
 formed the western boundary, and Pearl Street the 
 eastern one. All ground beyond these streets has 
 been made by filling in. 
 
 if 9} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Recently, in excavating in the lower part of Front 
 Street, the ribs of a vessel were unearthed ; they were 
 thought by some to have been those of the " Morning 
 Star," a powder ship blown up in the harbor August 
 7, 1778. This fact goes to prove the encroachment 
 of the city upon the water limits. 
 
 The French refugees were relegated to the eastern 
 side of Broadway below Wall Street, and in the vi 
 cinity of the "Bucther s Pen," this being an unfavored 
 part of the city, where the laboring portion of the 
 community dwelt, and there were many unused lots. 
 
 The frequent Indian incursions had caused the 
 settlers to centre around the fort to such an extent 
 as to endanger its safety; so much so that certain offi 
 cials complained to the home government that it 
 might be easily scaled by placing ordinary-sized lad 
 ders upon the surrounding houses. 
 
 This old fort deserves a word for itself, it being the 
 first and oldest structure of the settlement ; and, accord 
 ing to the author already quoted, " one of the best 
 Pieces of Defence in the north parts of America." I 
 am inclined, however, to the opinion that Mr. Lamothe 
 would have said of it the same as he said of an old 
 fort on the Jersey side of the river, " It is no great 
 things." 
 
 This venerable piece of Dutch antiquity, that was 
 destined never to hand down its name to our republi 
 can times, indeed, to bear none for any great 
 length of time, was erected in the year 1614 by the 
 Nieu Amsterdamers as a defence from the attacks of 
 the Indians. It is described as a mere palisaded 
 work, but its form and dimensions have not been 
 stated ; it went by the name of Fort Manhattan un 
 til 1626, when its increase in extent, and number of 
 inhabitants, caused a more substantial work to be con 
 structed, which upon completion was called Fort Am 
 sterdam. It is most probable that the plan of De 
 
 [20] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Razieres was not carried out to the full extent of his 
 designs, as we find Governor Stuyvesant alleging, as 
 an excuse for ceding it so easily to the English, that 
 it was an untenable place, and not fit to bear an assault 
 from European firearms. The walls, furthermore, on 
 its northern and northeastern part, although much 
 higher than those of its other sides, were, nevertheless, 
 lower than the ground beyond. So much higher was 
 the latter, he added, that people sitting on it could see 
 the very soles of the shoes of those who might be 
 standing on the esplanade, or bastions of the fort. In 
 deed, its walls for some eight or ten years were merely 
 ramparts of earth, from eight to ten feet high. The 
 buildings within it, occupied by the officers of the gar 
 rison, were composed of planks, or bark only, with 
 roofs of reeds. 
 
 In 1633 Governor Van Twiller came to Nieu Am 
 sterdam invested with full power to better this state 
 of things. Under his administration a guard-house 
 and barracks were constructed, and a wind-mill erected 
 for grinding the grain for the garrison. A substantial 
 brick house took the place of the former governmental 
 building, which lasted during the successive administra 
 tions of the Dutch dynasty. 
 
 The condition of the walls of the fort, however, 
 does not seem to have been improved, as we find the 
 governor in his Council of 1647 deliberating as to the 
 advisability of having them repaired. This was to be 
 accomplished by means of " stones laid in mortar to 
 make of it a lasting work ; " and for this purpose it 
 was suggested that every male inhabitant between the 
 ages of sixteen and sixty should devote twelve days 
 of labor in the year ; or give instead, the sum of eighty 
 cents per day. 
 
 Within the fort and adjoining the gubernatorial 
 mansion there stood a stone church of peculiar struc 
 ture, consisting of two peaked roofs with a steeple be- 
 
 [21] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 tween them. Beyond this edifice stood the prison, 
 and further on the guard-house, barracks, etc. These 
 buildings occupied the eastern side of the fort ; on 
 the western side was the gate, defended by four small 
 brass cannon. 
 
 On the southwest bastion of the fort, at the junc 
 tion of the present State and Stone streets, stood the 
 windmill and also a large flagstaff, upon which floated 
 the colors of the "Privileged West India Company" 
 whenever a vessel might appear in sight. By the river 
 outside the fort stood the gallows and whipping-post. 
 
 The governors varied in their way of living as well as 
 in their manner of entertaining, these being influenced 
 to a great extent by their former social position in the 
 mother country. As each incumbent furnished the 
 gubernatorial mansion himself, it varied considerably in 
 appearance under each administration. At times the 
 state carriage with gay livery would drive in and around 
 the fort, and the evenings were enlivened by music from 
 the band, and other entertainments. 
 
 The fashionable part of the community resided along 
 the lower part of Broadway facing Bowling Green, or 
 on the environs of the fort. 
 
 In 1664 the fort passed into the hands of the Eng 
 lish, and was called by them Fort James, in honor of 
 the Duke of York, and a battery was added by the 
 river. The interior was likewise greatly improved, and 
 the mansion rebuilt. 
 
 In 1673 the Dutch regained possession of it, and its 
 name was changed to that of William Henrick, which 
 name it bore for an entire year. Under Governor 
 Andros the name was changed again to Fort James. 
 This governor erected an armory between the mansion 
 and church ; also a stockade around the exterior to pro 
 tect it from wild animals. 
 
 In 1683 Thomas Dongan, an Irish Catholic, for 
 merly Lieutenant Governor of Tangiers, and afterwards 
 
 [22} 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Earl of Limerick, was appointed governor of the 
 colony. Dongan was a highly accomplished gentleman, 
 upright in all his dealings, and firm and judicious in 
 his policy. His strict integrity won the affection of 
 the people, and caused him to be one of the most 
 popular of all the royal governors. 
 
 Governor Dongan s first act upon entering his ad 
 ministration was to summon the freeholders to the 
 fort to elect representatives to meet him in council, 
 which resulted in giving to the colony its first Legis 
 lative Assembly. This Assembly was to consist of 
 the governor, ten councillors, and seventeen repre 
 sentatives chosen by the people, and its first act was 
 to give to the province its first Charter of Liberties. 
 By this charter it was decreed that the supreme legis 
 lative power should be permanently vested in the 
 General Council and people, met in general assembly. 
 Second : that each freeholder and freeman might vote 
 for representatives without any restriction being laid 
 upon his vote. Third : that no freeman should be 
 punished save by the judgment of his peers, and that 
 all trials should be held by jury. Fourth : that no 
 tax should be imposed, under any pretence whatever, 
 without the consent of the Assembly. Fifth : that no 
 martial law should exist. And sixth : that no person 
 professing belief in Jesus Christ should, at any time 
 or in any way, be made to suffer on account of 
 difference of opinion in matters of religion. 
 
 This charter still forms the basis of the municipal 
 rights and privileges of New York. 
 
 These liberal measures caused great rejoicings, the 
 more so because of the great unhappiness accruing 
 from the tyranny of the late Governor Andros. 
 
 In 1689, James II. having been dethroned, the fort 
 was seized by the train-bands or militiamen ; and one 
 of their captains was appointed to hold it until the 
 will of the Crown should be known. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Leisler having been the one selected, he took pos 
 session not alone of the fort, but of all the preroga 
 tives of the administration. He changed the name 
 of the fort to that of William, which it retained for 
 the period of two years. During his administration, 
 a half-moon fortification was made on the west side 
 of the fort ; upon which seven guns were placed to 
 defend the landings of both rivers. 
 
 Leisler, having had a taste of power, desired to 
 retain it, and refused to surrender possession of the 
 fort when required to do so. He was in consequence 
 immured in the very prison he once commanded, and 
 was finally executed as a rebel. 
 
 The fort now had the name Henry added to it. 
 The old Dutch church was demolished and an English 
 one was erected on its site. 
 
 In 1702 the name was again changed to that of 
 Anne, which it bore until the Georges ascended the 
 throne. It never had another. 
 
 In 1741 the mansion was burned down and the fire 
 was attributed to the slave population, the famous 
 " Negro Plot" having originated in this year. The 
 mansion was rebuilt and an additional battery added 
 to the fort; but in 1773, while Governor Tryon was 
 the incumbent, the building again took fire and was 
 entirely consumed in two hours time. 
 
 At the close of the Revolutionary War, the entire 
 fortification was removed, to make room for the presi 
 dential mansion, which was planned to face Bowling 
 Green. At that time the exterior appearance of the 
 fort was that of a green sloping bank, about fourteen 
 feet high ; and above it arose the walls to an additional 
 height of twenty feet. A portion of the materials was 
 used in building the mansion. 
 
 In the early days of the colony the houses were 
 mostly built of bricks brought from Holland. These 
 were of different colors and set in patterns and glazed, 
 
 [24} 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 the prevailing colors being red and black. The ends 
 of the houses always faced the streets ; the gables, ris 
 ing by successive steps to a point, were always sur 
 mounted by a weathercock. Under the projecting 
 eaves was a " stoep," on either side of which were 
 seats adapted to social intercourse. The lower win 
 dows of the houses were made quite small, as a precau 
 tion against the incursions of the Indians. 
 
 The interiors of the houses were kept scrupulously 
 clean ; the planed floors were well scrubbed and 
 sanded, and traced with delicate designs ; the oaken 
 rafters were polished and carved in devices and mot 
 toes ; and the doors were perforated with bull s-eyes 
 and well scrubbed with sand. 
 
 Furniture, in those days, was more for use than 
 comfort or ornament. Chairs were high-backed and 
 rush-bottomed, and made of red walnut or mahogany. 
 Tables were round, and turned by means of a pivot to 
 a fan shape and were usually placed against the wall 
 when not in use. Couches were covered with worsted 
 damask, and clocks extended from floor to ceiling. 
 In the corner of the best room there usually stood a 
 buffet with glass doors, containing, as well as display 
 ing, the family plate and china ; conspicuous amongst 
 which was a huge punch-bowl, also tiny cups and sau 
 cers, and tea and coffee pots with silver handles and 
 spouts. Sideboards were not introduced until after 
 the Revolution, and were very small. 
 
 Stoves were unknown ; but open fireplaces, with 
 shining fire-dogs, gave a cheerful appearance to the 
 rooms. Small bits of carpet, usually imported by the 
 family, were sparingly laid in the "best room." 
 Coaches were rare, there being for some time only 
 four or five in the entire settlement. 
 
 As time wore on and means of communication with 
 Europe became less difficult, the wealthier settlers were 
 enabled to import their furniture ; and carpets began 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 to make their appearance in most of the better class of 
 dwellings, which soon began to assume a degree of 
 luxury hitherto unknown. 
 
 A certain John Miller, chaplain to the fort, seems 
 to have kept the statistics of the colony. He com 
 puted the number of families in New York, in the year 
 1692, to have been three thousand. Of these, one half, 
 he says, were Dutch and rich, but sparing; the other 
 half was composed of English and French, of whom the 
 former outranked the latter in numbers, and were 
 neither rich nor economical, and the last mentioned 
 were poor and necessarily penurious. 1 
 
 This worthy dominie depicts things from a rather 
 dismal standpoint. He calls the inhabitants an un 
 godly people, who have no care for heavenly things ; 
 but instead turn everything to drink or money to buy 
 it with. " Even the crops," he says, " are usually 
 such as will yield some kind of liquor, cider, perry, 
 etc." 
 
 A more cheerful writer of the gentler sex, on a visit 
 from Boston, describes the same city as " a delightful 
 place; where the inhabitants are courteous and hospi 
 table; where families interchange invitations to dinners 
 and suppers, at which times the tables are crowded 
 with provisions ; where the families mostly dine at 
 one o clock, and never later than two in the day ; and 
 games of cards engross the post-prandial hours of the 
 more leisurely part of the community." 
 
 There were no theatres, to be sure, as in Boston ; but 
 concerts were given by amateurs, and there were as 
 semblies for dancing which met in a large hall, the 
 entrance being by subscription. As unanimous con 
 sent from all the members was necessary to secure a 
 membership, the affair was very select. At these as 
 semblies the stately minuet and sprightly cotillion were 
 
 1 The West India Company incorporated Nieu Amsterdam as a city in 
 1653, and modelled its government after that of Amsterdam. 
 
 [26] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 the order of the evening, the latter dance having been 
 introduced by the French. 
 
 Marriages and funerals were public ; but notes of 
 invitation to them were issued. The funerals were 
 followed by long processions on foot, as no public 
 conveyances were used prior to the year 1789, and 
 very few families owned a " leathern conveniency " as 
 Robert Murray styled his carriage. 
 
 Without a doubt the French refugees bore a promi 
 nent part in the great change in the colony, and they 
 undoubtedly infused new life into its veins. 
 
 As we have said, the Dutch were a slow people. 
 They were noted for the slowness, perseverance, and 
 the plodding tenor of their lives; they had got into a 
 groove and they steadily persevered in it. Their 
 social life had always been simple, domestic, and 
 unostentatious. 
 
 The English were formal, and held strict ideas of 
 caste, which consisted of a lower, middle, and upper 
 class ; the barriers separating each were impregnable 
 and insurmountable. Some of the wealthier Dutch 
 families held aloof from strangers, and formed a dis 
 tinct class by themselves ; but the majority met the 
 British officers and attaches at public entertainments ; 
 and after a time adopted their idea of caste. 
 
 The Huguenots were naturally romantic, vivacious, 
 and chivalric; and, freed somewhat from the over 
 shadowing vigilance of their founder s spirit, and hav 
 ing no party feeling like the others, they formed, as it 
 were, a bond of union between them. 
 
 The original settlers, finding no reason for alarm 
 at the inroad upon their hospitality, and shaken out 
 of the narrow groove in which the course of their 
 existence had formerly run, could not but acknowledge 
 the beneficial effect of the leaven from France. Im 
 mediately upon their arrival, the Huguenots had 
 commenced to ply their industries, and very soon that 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 portion of the city which, through force of circum 
 stances, they had been compelled to accept the 
 vicinity of Bucther s Pen, it having, in all probability, 
 moved away with the city s limits gave evidence 
 of their thrift and consequent prosperity. 
 
 Moreover, the first destitute refugees had been fol 
 lowed in course of time by others ; who had been more 
 fortunate in bringing with them some of their patri 
 mony. Nearly every ship of those that arrived once 
 a month from England brought over families of 
 wealthy, and even noble ancestry. 
 
 The refugees of the better class had mostly engaged 
 in mercantile or commercial pursuits. They had 
 erected comfortable and even handsome dwellings, and 
 the elegance and refinement of their private life caused 
 the aristocracy amongst the Dutch and English to wel 
 come them to their entertainments, and to take pleas 
 ure in being entertained by them. 
 
 The style of architecture likewise had greatly im 
 proved. Pearl Street, at that time the first one west 
 of Broadway, and which between State and Whitehall 
 streets was extremely narrow, contained some hand 
 some dwellings. 
 
 At Coenties Slip stood the municipal buildings, up 
 to the time of their removal to Wall Street, in the 
 early part of the eighteenth century. There, also, 
 stood a celebrated inn for the reception of visitors to 
 the city, this spot having been chosen on account of 
 the exceeding beauty of its prospect, and its aristocratic 
 surroundings. 
 
 At the slip, Pearl Street curved to the north, widen 
 ing considerably at Hanover Square ; it also changed 
 its name at different stages in its course, assuming 
 first that of Dock Street, then Hanover Square, 
 Queen and finally Magazine Street. 
 
 On this street the gable ends ceased to face the 
 street, and " stoeps " and benches yielded to roof 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 balconies, which formed pleasant and more retired 
 localities for rest, recreation, or sociability. From 
 these elevated pleasure gardens might be seen the 
 beautiful shores of Nutten * and Nassau Islands, 2 with 
 Staten Island and the highlands of the North, or 
 Hudson, River forming a background. 
 
 Here one might enjoy at evening the fresh ocean 
 breezes wafted over the lovely bay, and from the 
 Sound through South River; 3 and the gentle lapping 
 of the water in Countess* Slip 4 made itself heard in 
 the quietness of the night. 
 
 In course of time Bowling Green and Lower Broad 
 way, which had been par excellence the aristocratic 
 part of the city, gave precedence to their rival Pearl 
 Street, just above Hanover Square. 
 
 This square was then the fashionable shopping 
 locality ; and there might be seen old Dutch and 
 high English dames, mingling with the fair daughters 
 of sunny France, to admire the fashions from over 
 the sea six months old or more. 
 
 Dress at this period was greatly attended to by 
 both sexes, the ladies attiring themselves quite ele 
 gantly, and the young men appearing Beau Brummels 
 of a Sunday, with coats of every color and indeed of 
 several colors combined. The skirts of the coats 
 were frequently lined with silk and satin of delicate 
 hues, and the collars were of velvet or silk, of quite 
 different colors from the garment. Sometimes, indeed, 
 instead of collars the coats were finished off with sev 
 eral small capes. It is probable the young men were 
 as frequently met in Hanover Square as were their 
 lady friends, mothers, sisters, and loves on business 
 matters of course, for men are never frivolous. 
 
 In 1754 Mr. Walton, 5 who had accumulated a for- 
 
 1 Governor s Island. 2 Long Island. 
 
 8 East River now. 4 Coenties Slip. 
 
 5 Mr. Walton married a daughter of Mr. Delancey. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 tune in foreign trade, built, in Pearl Street, a house of 
 such elegance as to compete with the Kenedy mansion, 
 No. i Broadway. Its fame, we are told, reaching the 
 mother country, was the innocent cause of preventing 
 any scruples from arising in the maternal breast, in 
 regard to the taxation of her infant colonies; for, she 
 argued, if provincial children can build for themselves 
 such elegant mansions, they may well afford to pour 
 some of their surplus gold into the maternal coffers. 
 
 This house was built of yellow Holland brick ; and 
 its spacious gardens bordered on South River. In 
 this residence, in after years, Antien Genet wedded 
 the daughter of Governor Clinton. Later on, in No. 
 119 of this street, General Moreau 1 lived when an 
 exile in this country ; and his family remained in it 
 while he fought for the Allied Army. After his death 
 his widow resigned it into the hands of the executors, 
 and there was a sale of his beautiful furniture and 
 curios. A friend 2 of the writer s has still in her pos 
 session the elegant crystal chandelier that hung in 
 the drawing-room of his house. 
 
 The wealthy merchant Jumel, who loaned of his 
 fortune so largely to France in her need, also resided 
 in this street. 
 
 Although the lower portion of Manhattan Island 
 was composed of sandy soil, it nevertheless bore a good 
 supply of elm, maple, and sycamore trees, as also Nor 
 mandy poplars, that stood like grim sentinels along the 
 streets. 
 
 1 There is an amusing anecdote related of General Moreau while in 
 this country. He was invited to a concert, during which a piece was 
 sung, the refrain being "to-morrow, to-morrow. 1 The general, under 
 standing English but imperfectly, supposed the song was composed in his 
 honor and the refrain to be the repetition of his name ; he consequently 
 thought it obligatory to acknowledge the mark of respect. The audience 
 were consequently astonished by seeing him rise and bow most respect 
 fully on all sides as often as the refrain was repeated. Many of them 
 did not know the illustrious man by sight. 
 
 2 Mrs. Julius G. Caryl. 
 
 [30] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 In 1732 walks were laid out in Bowling Green, and 
 bordered with shade trees ; it then took the place of a 
 modern park. Shortly after, however, fashion changed 
 its location to Pearl street, and thus began its march 
 up town which it continues to the present time. 
 
Chapter Third 
 
 ALTHOUGH a French congregation had been 
 established in the early days of the colony, it 
 had ceased to exist before the year 1678 ; 
 or that in which the Rev. Peter Daille, the first min 
 ister of whom we have any record, began to hold 
 French services. It is not probable that the first con 
 gregation had any distinct edifice, as Mr. Daille was 
 obliged to make use of the old church in the fort ; he 
 holding his services between those of the Dutch in the 
 forenoon, and the English in the afternoon. 
 
 In the year 1687 the Rev. Pierre Peiret arrived 
 amongst a band of refugees, with the intention of 
 ministering to their spiritual interests. As their 
 number was constantly increasing, it was deemed fit 
 ting, and even necessary that they should have a 
 church for themselves. Mr. Peiret consequently 
 proceeded to erect a small building on Marketfield 
 Street. It was a very humble beginning, certainly, as 
 its entire length was only forty-eight feet nine inches, 
 by a front width of twenty-seven feet seven inches. 
 A passage taken off from the width rendered the 
 greater part of the building only twenty-five feet wide. 
 
 Upon Leisler s usurpation of the administration, 
 the Huguenots divided into two parties ; one of 
 these being headed by Mr. Peiret, the other by Mr. 
 Daille. The former party opposed Leisler s adminis 
 tration ; but the latter favored it to such a degree as 
 to endanger his adherents in their efforts to have him 
 released from prison, and saved from death by execution. 
 Party feeling ran so high that the French congrega 
 tion never again became thoroughly united. 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 After Leisler s death, Mr. Daille removed to Bos 
 ton ; and it is probable that his representation of the 
 state of affairs in the New York congregation helped 
 in a great measure to cause the misunderstanding 
 between Mr. Gabriel Bernon and the French con 
 gregation in that city. 
 
 The colony by this time, counted some two hun 
 dred families ; and, although all of them had not 
 located in New York city, sufficient had done so to 
 cause the population to be about one-fourth French. 
 
 Before Governor Dongan s withdrawal from the 
 administration, the refugees had petitioned him for the 
 right of free trade in the colonies ; and he, having for 
 warded the petition to the king, had received a favor 
 able answer. 
 
 In 1689 the administration had devolved upon 
 Richard Coole, Earl Bellemont ; who, upon assuming 
 control of the colony, sided with the Leislerites or 
 people s party ; thus rendering himself very unpopular 
 with Mr. Peiret and the majority of the French con 
 gregation. This unpopularity was increased by the 
 belief that he had misrepresented some matters, 
 thereby injuring their interests with the Board of 
 Trade. So bitter was their feeling, that he found it 
 necessary to take some means of conciliating them, to 
 regain their support; which he recognized as very 
 necessary for the success of his administration, the 
 French having become important factors in the colony, 
 by the rapid increase of their numbers. 
 
 Being on intimate terms of friendship with Gabriel 
 Bernon, the founder of the Huguenot colony in New 
 Oxford, Massachusetts, Bellemont thought to gain 
 the support of Mr. Peiret s party through his influence. 
 Inviting him, therefore, to New York for the osten 
 sible purpose of consulting with him about matters 
 relating to the Crown, he laid before Bernon the 
 opposition he experienced from the French congrega- 
 
 ^J [ss] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 tion ; causing it to appear like rebellion against the 
 king. 
 
 Misled by his representations, and acting in good 
 faith, Bernon endeavored to become a mediator 
 between the two parties ; and for this purpose met 
 Mr. Peiret and the principal members of the dis 
 affected congregation. Expressing his deep regret 
 for the feeling existing between the several nationali 
 ties and the administration, he urged the French con 
 gregation to cultivate a more kindly feeling. 
 
 To his exhortations they replied that they would 
 prefer to go to Mississippi than to live under Belle 
 mont s authority. Bernon, now fully convinced of 
 their disaffection, returned to Boston chagrined at his 
 want of success in his pacific endeavors. Before 
 leaving New York, however, he essayed one more 
 attempt to remedy matters. Penning a letter full of 
 regret at their conduct and expressive of his hopes for 
 their amendment, he left it with his host to be given 
 to Mr. Peiret after his own departure. 
 
 The minister, as well as the congregation, conscious 
 that they had given no just cause for offence in the 
 beginning, and that the fault lay rather on the part of 
 the governor, waited upon the latter in a body, and, 
 laying before him the subject of their grievance, pro 
 tested their innocence. 
 
 Bellemont, like a shrewd politician, recognizing his 
 mistaken way of gaining his end, strove to pacify 
 them. Disowning his share in the transaction, he left 
 Bernon to bear the brunt of their displeasure as having 
 misinterpreted the sentiments of the governor towards 
 them. 
 
 But notwithstanding his fair face in the matter, 
 Bellemont was greatly displeased with the Hugue 
 nots ; and he took the petty way of revenging himself 
 by suppressing the annual stipend granted by the 
 government for the support of the minister. 
 
 [34} 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 The bitterness between all parties only terminated 
 at the death of Bellemont in 1701. 
 
 Gabriel Bernon s letter to the Consistory of the French Church in 
 New Tork^ 1699. 
 
 NEW YORK 25 Mars, 1699. 
 
 Messieurs, Premier, partir, de cette Ville, Je me trouve 
 oblige comme etant tous freres Refugiez, de vous dire, qve 
 Monseigneur Le comte de Bellemont ma fait venir ici pour 
 discouvrir, avec son Excellence, de certaines, affaires qui Re- 
 garde le service du Roy. Apres qvoy son Excellence moi 
 aussy entretenu de la bonne volonte qvel a pour vous; qvel 
 voit avec douleur L animosite centre les Englais les francais et 
 hollandois. Que son Excellence se fait du plaisir de Ramenir 
 avec clemence ceux qvi s eloigne du D voir, D eu a sa majeste 
 et a L etat, &c. Que son Excellence na favorise aucun parti : 
 qvel n a d acception qve pour Les bons sujets du Roy Guil- 
 leaume puis qve son Excellence na pour But Principal qve le 
 plus service de Dieu la gloire du Roy, et la prosperite des 
 Peuples; son Excellence nous exhorte comme de bons sujets 
 de nous aymer afin qu etant unis D amitie nous soyons fidelle 
 a son Majeste pour leqvel nous D vons prier Dieu de benir ses 
 entreprises et Luy donner une vie Longve et heureuse. Amen. 
 
 Pour moi J ai comme vous pour La Religion, A Bandonne 
 Les Biens et notre patrie, ainsy qve plusieurs de nos freres 
 Refugiez en divers endroits du monde, nous D vons, chaq un 
 de nous, nous soumettre sous Le govvernement ou nous 
 Rencontrons. C est pour nous un grand Bonheur et un 
 grand honneur de nous povvoir dire et Reclamer bons 
 sujets de notre sovveirain le Roy Guillaume, qve puis qve Dieu 
 nous Commande de nous assujettir au puissance Royale, qu on 
 ne peut avoir trop de veneration pour un sy grand, sy bon et 
 sy 1 Lustre prince, n y trop de Respect pour ses govverneurs 
 qvi nous Le Represente: On peut qvelqve Lois Bien avec 
 Respect se familliariser avec Les puissance ; mais ; on ne peut 
 Jamais sans Crime, Pasquinir ou felonir L Autorite Royale 
 ceux qvi agissent par felonie et Pasqvinerie qve Les Loys 
 d Engleterre Condamne, meprise L Etat &c. (sic). J ay vue 
 avec Douleur qvelqu un s eloigner du D voir qve nous D vons 
 a son Excellence Monsigneur Le Comte de Bellemont. 
 
 [35} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Ne croyez pas qve je sois assey temeraire pour meriger en 
 Senseur, ny pour vous Rien Prescrire. Mais J ai Creu en frere 
 pouvoir vous dire mon veritable sentiments cette Diversite de 
 goust, s accorder ; vaus etes pour Mischipipi ? Je suis pour 
 Road Island. Je vous offre mes services La et par tout 
 ailleurs. Je feray tousjours gloire de vous assurer, Qye Je 
 suis avec Respect, 
 
 Messieurs, 
 
 Votre tres humble et tres obeissant serviteur 
 et frere Refugie, 
 
 GABRIEL BERNON. 
 Messieurs D L Eglise francoise, 
 de la novelle York. 1 
 
 Answer of the Consistory of the French Church in New York to 
 Gabriel Bernon, 1699. 
 
 YORK, Le 22 C May, 1699. 
 
 Monsieur, V^ Letre qve vous avez ecrite a M[ Jamain 
 nous oblige a rompre Le silence sur un sujet qve nous avions 
 resolu de laisser dans Poublir c est une mechante Libelle qve 
 M r .. Gabriel Bernon (sic) laissa icy en partant entre les mains 
 de son hote, avec ordre de la rendre apres son depart a mess" 
 de 1 Eglise francoise da ce lieu, nous le regardames comme la 
 production d un esprit malade et prive de jugem 1 plustot digne 
 de pitie qve d indignation et nous creumes qu au lieu de le 
 relever il valoit mieux 1 ensevelir sous le voile de Charite, 
 mais comme il a lui meme public sa honte en distribuant 
 des Copies de cet ecrit nous avons lieu de croire qu il 
 avait etc pousse a le faire par un autre motif qve celui de 
 1 indiscretion qvi lui est si naturelle et qve nous povvons 
 prendre 1 accusation qu il fait centre nous comme une calomnie 
 dont il a voulu salir ce troupeau de refugiez vous trouverez 
 dont bon s il vous plait qve nous dision qvelqve chose pour 
 (jzV) notre Justification et qve nous vous addression ces Lignes 
 tant pour vous affermir dans le sentiment qve vous temoignez 
 avoir de son precede, qve pour detromper ceux qvi en ont 
 en de mauvaise impressions contre nous, vous priant de les faire 
 voir a mess r .? du consistoire de votre Eglise et a tous ceux qui 
 peuvent etre prevenus. 
 
 1 The Huguenots in France and America, vol. ii., p. 118. 
 
 [36} 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Cette homme suppose comme vous avez veu dans la Copie 
 de la lettre qu il vous a remise qve nous sommes ennemis du Roy 
 tratres au Gouvernement et violateurs du Respect qvi est deu 
 a Monseigf. Le Comte de Bellemont et il nous fait esperer de 
 trovver 1 impunite de nos Crimes dans la Clemence de ce 
 seigneur pourveu qve nous rentrions dans notre devoir, et il 
 nous a fait entendre qve n ayant rien peu gagner sur nous par 
 ces Exhortations de ces Crimes odieux dont le moindre merite 
 sans doute un chatiment severe il a etc oblige de laisser cette 
 Lettre pour tenter d obtenir par son ecrit ce qu il navait peu 
 obtenir par ces paroles et qve ce qu il a fait a cet egard il la 
 fait par ordre de Monseigneur le Govverneur. 
 
 Mais premierement il est faux qve le Govverneur lui aye 
 Jamais donne aucun ordre sur cela et nous le soutenons har- 
 dimentparceqvenous etans presentez deux fois a son Excellence 
 en corps de Consistoire accompagney de qvelque chefs de 
 famille pour nous elancir la dessus elle a eu la bonte de nous 
 declarer qvelle n avait point aux parler de cela et qve si elle 
 eut connu qveP qu un coupable de ces crimes elle 1 avait pour- 
 suivre selon la rigeur de Lois sans imputer au corps le crime 
 des particuliers, qve les expressions de cette letre etaient 
 horrible et qve M r Bernon avait mal fait de rendre sa Letre 
 publiqve il ne scaurait dont des avouer qve nous ne soyons en 
 droit de la revetir du titre de menteur et qve sa hardiesse a 
 mentir ne soit d autant plus impudente, qu il commet 1 honneur 
 d une personne pour laqvelle il nous accuse de manqver de 
 respect, cependant c est par le profond respect qve nous avons 
 pour Monseigneur Le Comte de Bellemont qve nous n avons 
 point voulu entreprendre de nous justifie par cette ecrit 
 qu apres en avoir obtenu la permission de son Excellence. 
 
 II est encore faux qu il ait tenu a aucune de nous pendant 
 le sejour qu il a fait ici, des discours ; nous ne disons pas 
 semblables a ceux de sa letre, mais approchans en aucune 
 maniere s il nous eut veu veritablement engagez dans les 
 Crimes dont il nous accuse ou qve 1 imbecilite de son esprit 
 eut pris des phantomes pour des realitez, il devait nous 
 reprocher nos rebelions et nous representer nos devoirs entant 
 de rencontres ou nous avons ou avec lui des conversations 
 longues et familieres et degage de toute craintre : au contraire 
 ayant etc soubconne d avoir rapporte a my Lord qu un de nos 
 
 [J7J 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 francois avait term des discours trop libre touchant le Gov- 
 vernement il entreprit de se justifier ; et n oublia rien pour 
 eloigner tout le soupcon. N etait ce pas la le Lieu de s ovvrir 
 et de nous dire ce qu il a ecrit cependant il na la point fait ni 
 rien d approchant, mais voulant pourtant nous charger et nous 
 rendre odieux en nous imputant des Crimes dont il a bien veu 
 qve nous n etions pas coupable, puis qu il na ose nous les 
 reproacher par les voye naturelles, il a laisse cette libelle 
 difamatoire entre les mains de son hote avec un Ordre premier 
 de ne point nous la rendre qu apres son depart semblables a 
 ces laches assassins qve se cachent afin d oter la vie a ceux qu ils 
 n aiment point le voila dont deux foix a menteur sur un meme 
 sujet, pour le fond de son accusation il ni eut Jamais rien de 
 plus contraire a la verite, il n est pas necessaire qu il nous 
 passer des Lecons pour nous remontrer Pobligation ou nous 
 sommes d honorer le Roy Guilluame nous le scauons et nous 
 serions les gens du mondes les plus ingrat et les plus uniqve si 
 nous manqvions en ce devoir car nous recoinnaissons qve nous 
 sommes redevable a cette incomparable Prince de tout le repos 
 dont nous jouissons et qve Dieu la fait naitre pour la Conser 
 vation de son Eglise et pour la Consolation de tant de pavvres 
 qui ont echape au persecuteurs de france mais on de doit pas 
 craindre qve nous Tombions dans cette ingratitude nous serions 
 bien plus capable de faire notre idole de ce grand et glorieux 
 monarque qve d oblier la veneration la fidelite et Tobbeisance 
 qve nous La devons. 
 
 II n est pas non plus necessaire qu il nous avertisse qve 
 nous devons respecter ses Gouverneurs, nous le scauons et 
 nous le practiquons comment pourrons nous ne pas avoir 
 du respect pour des personnes qui represente dans Leur 
 Govern* Le Roy Guillaume qui est 1 object de tout ce qve 
 nous pouvons concevoir d estime, d amour, et de veneration 
 dans 1 ordres des affaires humaines, nous respectons Monseig r .. Le 
 Comte de Bellemont et nous honnorons sa personne et son 
 charactere et nous receverons toujours ses ordres avec soumis- 
 sion. Pour le Gouvernment nous nous y sommes toujours 
 soumis avec plaisir tout parceque la proffession du Christian- 
 isme nous y oblige qve parceqve le Comparant au Gouveren de 
 france sous laqvel nous avons gemi si longtemps, nous le 
 trouvons extremement doux et humain et proportione au droits 
 
 {38} 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 de la nature nous protestons qve nous serons toujours prest a 
 la deffendre de tout notre pouvoir contre tous ceux qvi entre- 
 prendront de le troubler ce sont la nos veritable sentiments 
 opposez comme vous le voyez au accusations de M r .. Bernon 
 et nous ne doutons pas qve tout ce qu il y a d honnete Gens 
 ne fut disposez a nous rendre ce temoinage s il etait necessaire 
 comme il nous fut rendu il ny a qve peu de Jours par le 
 procureur du Roy qvi recconut devant monseig r ..le Gov- 
 vern r .. lors que nous pleignisme a son Excellence des accusa 
 tions de M.*. Bernon qve nous nous etions toujours montrez 
 fort affectionez au Gouvernment et qve le Roy n avait pas de 
 meilleurs sugets qve nous. en Effet si il en avait quelqun parmi 
 nous qui parut anime des pensees qve cette homme nous 
 impute nous le retrencherions de notre Corps comme un 
 monstre indigne de notre Societe nous vous prions Mons .de 
 les faire connaistre a tous ceux a qvi les discours de M r .. Bernon 
 peuvent avoir donne des preventions contre nous, c est la 
 toute la vengeance qve nous voulons prendre de lui encore 
 qu il nous soit fort dur de nous voir accusez par un homme 
 qvi porte avec nous le titre d Exile pour la religion et qvi veut 
 icy nous faire de feintes protestations d amitie nous lui pardon- 
 nons de bon coeur lui soubsistant une Conduite droite a 1 avenir 
 et un judgement plus solide et a vous la Benediction de 
 Dieu &c 
 
 (sic) 
 
 Monsieur Votre &c PEIRET Ministre 
 
 JEAN BARBARIE 
 ELIE BOUDINOT 
 PAUL DROILET 
 GABRIEL LE BOYTEULX 
 
 The family of Bernon, 1 or, de Bernon, as it was 
 known in France, was originally from Burgundy, 
 and is one of the most ancient families of the 
 kingdom. It claims its descent from the younger 
 branch of the Counts of Burgundy, several of whose 
 princes have borne the name from the year 895. Its 
 
 1 As Bernon was a connection of Freneau s family, we give a short 
 sketch of his life and labors for his countrymen in America. 
 
 {.39} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 arms * from the fourteenth century were borne by the 
 Counts of Ma9on. 
 
 That branch of the family of which Gabriel Bernon, 
 the refugee, was a descendant, has or had, in its pos 
 session all the documents necessary to prove its iden 
 tity from the time of Raoul de Bernon. This house 
 is allied to some of the most illustrious families of 
 France. It has rendered distinguished services to its 
 country, and has numbered amongst its members 
 superior officers of great merit in the army, as well as 
 in the navy. Several of its names are found in the 
 " Livre d Or de la Noblesse " as belonging to the 
 Order of Saint Louis. 
 
 The name of de Bernon is found amongst those of 
 the families that were represented in the Crusades in 
 the year 1191. In the sixteenth century it is seen 
 contributing towards the ransom of the sons of 
 Fra^ois ist, who were held as hostages by Spain after 
 the battle of Pavia. It also sent money by the hands 
 of Duplessis-Mornay to Henri Quatre, to assist him 
 in his efforts to obtain the throne. 
 
 Besides the claims to nobility entailed by their 
 Burgundian ancestors, the Bernons of La Rochelle 
 possess still another claim to distinction, several of the 
 mayors of that city having been furnished by them. 
 To have held the office of mayor of that city, accord 
 ing to the customs of the time, conferred rank, not 
 alone to the person who had held the office, but to 
 his heirs forever. 
 
 Raoul de Bernon, who served with distinction in 
 the wars of his time, married Charlotte de Talmont 
 and their son, Nicolas, was mayor of La Rochelle in 
 the year 1357. His son held the same office in 1398. 
 Jean Thomas, son of the latter, founded the two 
 
 1 Azur a un chevron d argent surmonte d un croissant de meme, 
 compagne en chef de deux etoiles d or et en point d un ours passant 
 
 accompagne 
 dememe 
 
 [40} 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 gentilhommieres or manors of Bernoniere and Bernon 
 ville, the former deriving its name from a small 
 chateau near Pouzauges in Poitou, now the depart 
 ment of Vendee, and the latter, from a chateau on the 
 Isle de Re. Jean Thomas had a son named Andre, 
 who had two sons : Pierre, sieur de la Bernoniere et 
 risleau, and Jean. 
 
 Jean s son Andre married Catherine du Bouche 
 in 1545, and their son Leonard married Fran9oise 
 Carre, 1578, and had two sons : Jean, sieur de Bernon- 
 ville, and Andre. The latter married Jeanne Lescour, 
 and, after her death, Marie Papin in 1605 ; their two 
 sons were Leonard, sieur de Bernonville, and Andre, 
 the latter being the father of Gabriel the refugee. 
 
 The branch of the family to which Andre belonged 
 was distinguished as de Bernonville, and was amongst 
 the first in La Rochelle to embrace Calvinism. The 
 other branch, dela Bernoniere de 1 Isleau, also adopted 
 the same belief. 1 
 
 Andre, Gabriel s father, was one of ten children, 
 five of whom were sons, the remaining five daughters. 
 Andre was a prosperous banker, and ancien of the 
 Huguenot Church. He did not long survive its 
 destruction and the dispersion of his brethren, but 
 died soon after the Act of the Revocation of the Edict 
 of Nantes was passed, and was buried by night in his 
 own gardens at Perigny. 
 
 Samuel and Jean de Bernon, Andre s second and 
 third sons, became zealous converts to the Catholic 
 faith. Some of the letters written by the former to 
 Gabriel, in reply to his severe reproaches, are still 
 extant; they prove the sincerity of his convictions, 
 and give the reasons for his conversion. As sieur 
 de Salines he lived in luxury in Poitou. Jean, sieur 
 
 1 Bernon famille habitant la Rochelle apres avoir embrasse 1 heresie 
 de Calvinisme n a Jamais voulu se faire rehabiliter ; elle a toujours etc 
 riche et consideree. FILLEAU. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 de Luneau, resided before and after his conversion 
 in San Just. Ester escaped to England, and Jeanne 
 married Jean Allaire, brother to Alexandre Allaire, the 
 refugee, and one of the founders of New Rochelle, West- 
 chester County, in the State of New York. Another 
 sister married a Mr. Du Pont of La Rochelle, and her 
 son Jacque, along with Jeanne s son, Louis Allaire, 
 accompanied their uncle Gabriel Bernon to. America. 
 Andre and Benjamin Faneuil, connections of the de 
 Bernons, accompanied this party in their flight. 
 
 Gabriel was forty-one years of age at the time of 
 the revocation of the Edict, and was one of the leading 
 merchants of La Rochelle. He married Ester Le 
 Roy, the daughter of a landed proprietor whose resi 
 dence faced the royal palace. He was an inflexible 
 Huguenot and had materially assisted the refugees 
 who had settled in Quebec. Gabriel attempted to 
 settle in Quebec, but on account of his religious con 
 victions was obliged to leave Canada. Upon his 
 return to France he was arrested and thrown into the 
 prison of la Lanterne, from which, after an imprison 
 ment of several months* duration, he was released 
 through the influence of his Catholic brothers, 
 Samuel and Jean. 
 
 After his release, Gabriel disposed of his remaining 
 property, but he received only about one-tenth part 
 of its value. He managed to escape with this into 
 Holland, where his wife was to meet him; but she was 
 arrested in her attempt, and was only set at liberty 
 upon feigning conversion. She speedily joined her 
 husband, however, and they sailed to England, landing 
 in London, where they were met by their relatives 
 Louis Allaire, Jacque Du Pont, and the two Faneuils. 
 
 Bernon, with the intention of settling in America, 
 had sent several sums of money to his agent in that 
 country, who purchased a tract of land of twenty-five 
 hundred acres not very far from Boston ; and later 
 
 {<*} 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 on he sailed for his new home with his wife and rela 
 tives, along with forty other refugees whose expenses 
 he paid to his colony. 
 
 Arriving in Boston, he was put in possession of his 
 grant by the custom of investiture of twig and turf, 
 by Chief Justice Dudley. Bernon and his nephews 
 remained in Boston, leaving his agent to act for 
 him in the colony called New Oxford; in which 
 houses, and a fort and church were soon built. 
 
 The community all together amounted to about 
 eighty persons; amongst whom was the family of 
 Lydia Sigourney s husband. To all appearance there 
 was every sign of success and an increase of the infant 
 colony, as other refugees frequently joined it. 
 
 During King Philip s war, the Nipmucks ravaged 
 the surrounding country, and the Oxford colonists 
 became greatly alarmed. Bernon s agent, foreseeing 
 danger, disposed of all the stock and furniture Bernon 
 had provided, and made off with the proceeds to 
 unknown parts. A visit from the Indians, attended 
 by the usual massacre, caused the colonists to take 
 refuge in the fort, which they soon after abandoned to 
 return to Boston. The minister also went off, carry 
 ing with him the books provided for the use of the 
 colony, and all papers of importance. 
 
 All that remains to mark the spot of the once pros 
 perous settlement is a huge cross bearing the following 
 inscription : 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 THE 
 
 HUGUENOTS 
 
 EXILES FOR THEIR FAITH 
 WHO MADE THE FIRST SETTLEMENT 
 
 OF 
 OXFORD 
 
 1680 
 
 WE LIVE NOT FOR OURSELVES ONLY 
 BUT FOR POSTERITY. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 " I might have remained in France and kept my 
 property, my quality, and my titles if I had been will 
 ing to submit to slavery," wrote, in his old age, Gabriel 
 Bernon the refugee. 1 
 
 The family of Allaire, to which Louis belonged, 
 was another ancient family of France ; and one long 
 identified with the Huguenot cause in La Rochelle. 
 This family was represented in their congregation, at 
 the time of the revocation, by several prominent mem 
 bers, viz., Antoine, sieur du Bugnon, Jean, the royal 
 secretary, and Henri, Councillor and Lieutenant Gen 
 eral in Admiralty, who were brothers. 
 
 Belonging to a younger branch of this family was 
 Pierre, whose son Alexandre Allaire came to America 
 by way of St. Christopher in the year 1686. He 
 finally came to New Rochelle, of which settlement he 
 was one of the most prominent members. Pierre s 
 grandson, and Alexandre s nephew, Louis, as we have 
 already stated, came to Boston with his uncle, Gabriel 
 Bernon, and his other relatives, Jacque Du Pont and 
 the Faneuils. Louis remained some time in Boston 
 carrying on business between that city and southern 
 parts under the name of Louis Allaire & Co. He 
 afterwards removed to New York City where he died 
 of a lingering illness. 
 
 Andre Faneuil located in Boston, of which city he 
 became a prominent member. His descendant Peter 
 Faneuil was the founder of the building bearing his 
 name, and given by him to the city for a town hall 
 and market. In this building, located on Merchants 
 Row and Faneuil Hall Square, were held all the town- 
 meetings during the dark days preceding the Revolu 
 tion which inspired and kept alive the spirit of liberty. 
 Benjamin settled in New York City, from which place 
 he exported goods to London. 
 
 1 Huguenots in America, Baird. 
 
 [44] 
 
T*he Poet of the Revolution 
 
 In 1707 the mate of a sloop that had been captured 
 by a French privateer while on its way to England, 
 set the report afloat that the French inhabitants of 
 New York were plotting for the capture of that city 
 by the French ; and that Captain Benjamin Faneuil 
 bore a prominent part in the matter. Also that they 
 were in correspondence with the French government 
 to that effect. 
 
 The Huguenots, upon hearing the slander, addressed 
 a petition to His Excellency Lord Cornbury, request 
 ing that the mate, Morris Newinhuysen, as well as 
 any other person implicated in the slander, might be 
 examined; and if it was found that any one had given 
 just foundation for the report, he should be punished 
 and the innocent freed from suspicion. 
 
 The petition was headed : 
 
 A Full & Just Discovery of the weak & 
 slender foundation of a most Pernicious 
 
 Slander 
 
 Raised against the 
 
 French Protestant Refugees 
 
 Inhabiting the Province of New York generally but more 
 
 particularly affecting 
 Capt. Benjamin Faneuil 
 person of considerable note amongst them 
 
 The captain of the vessel, John Van Brugh, testi 
 fied that the mate had told him that a boatswain found 
 some letters on board of the sloop which were ad 
 dressed to France under cover to persons in England. 
 That the contents of the letters were to the effect that 
 the French would find the condition of things in New 
 York in great disorder if they chose to avail them 
 selves of it. That upon questioning the said mate as 
 to his knowledge of the writers of said letters, he said 
 there were no names signed but that the handwriting 
 in one letter resembled that of Captain Benjamin 
 
 \45\ 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Faneuil. The mate being sworn, made in effect the 
 same statement. Whereupon the governor issued the 
 following proclamation : 
 
 AT A COUNCIL HELD AT FORT ANNE IN NEW YORK 
 
 the 4th day of March 1707-8. 
 
 Present His Excellency Edward Viscount Cornbury 
 Rip Van Dam ) F John Barberie ) ,-, 
 
 Thomas Wenham \ * Adolph Phillipse j Esqrs> 
 
 His Excellency and council having considered the Deposi 
 tions of Maurice Newenhuysen and John Van Brugh con 
 cerning a Letter writ from hence to France, and taken in the 
 sloop Constant Abigal, giving some account (as is said) of the 
 condition of this place, do declare unanimously, That they do 
 not think that there is any ground to suspect Capt. Faneuil of 
 holding correspondence with France nor to prosecute him here 
 on the aforesaid Depositions 
 
 By Order of His Excellency in Council 
 
 GEO. CLARKE. 
 
 Another petition was laid before the governor, re 
 questing that his secretary should provide the Hugue 
 not congregation with a copy of the " minits and 
 Entries " relative to the search and inquiry, along with 
 the opinion of the governor and his council, and also 
 a license for the printer to imprint the same ; that 
 their reputation might thereby be vindicated, which 
 was granted. 
 
 The signers of the two petitions were Stephen 
 D Lancey, Elias Nezereau, Abraham Jouneau, 
 Thomas Bayeux, Elias Neau, Paul Droilet, Auguste 
 Jay, Jean Cayale, Benjamin Faneuil, David Cromelin, 
 Jean Auboyneau, Francis Vincent, and Alexandre 
 Allaire. 1 
 
 Although many other names of the refugees are of 
 sufficient interest to insert here, we have only selected 
 from them such names as belonged to relatives of the 
 family of Freneau. 
 
 1 Doc. Hist. N. Y., vol. iii. 
 
 [46} 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 The Huguenots, having sold their diminutive church 
 in the year 1703, were authorized by an Act of the 
 Legislature to purchase a building lot, and the site 
 selected was that on the northeast corner of King 1 
 and Nassau streets. In the following year they erected 
 a stone edifice with a tower in the rear. Sir Henry 
 Asshurst presented a bell to be hung in it. 2 Over 
 the portal of the church was a tablet bearing the in 
 scription : "1 Eglise du St. Esprit Gall : Prot : Reform : 
 fundat 1704: Peritus Reparat 1741." 
 
 This old church, for the first hundred years of its 
 existence, was the place of worship for the Huguenot 
 families of New York and environs. Those who had 
 settled in New Rochelle also worshipped in it, al 
 though this act of piety obliged them to leave their 
 homes before light, in order to reach it before services 
 commenced. 
 
 Tradition points to an old building one and a half 
 stories high, which stands near the Kingsbridge about 
 a mile to the northward of Crosskeys tavern, or the 
 place where it once stood, which bore for its sign a 
 blue bell, from which it took its name. This it de 
 clares was the veritable place of rest where these men, 
 of sterner stuff than now, were wont to halt over night 
 on their weekly journeys from New Rochelle to New 
 York for the sabbath services. 
 
 In the year 1724 some defection on the part of 
 the minister gave great displeasure to the consistory 
 and a part of the congregation, who consequently gave 
 him his dismissal. He and the remaining portion of 
 the congregation resisted ; and the matter was laid 
 before the governor, who decided in favor of the 
 minister, and he was retained. This proved to be 
 very prejudicial to the interests of the church, as most 
 of the congregation left it for either the established 
 
 1 Pine St. 
 
 2 This old bell is now in New Rochelle. 
 
 [47} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 church or that of the Dutch. It was consequently 
 neglected and became sadly in need of repair. 
 
 In 1812, Bishop Hobart, of Trinity Church, offered 
 to have the Huguenot church thoroughly repaired and 
 set upon a firm footing, if the minister and congrega 
 tion would enter the Episcopal communion and use 
 its liturgy. The parties agreed to this proposal and 
 the edifice was repaired, and a fair congregation seated. 
 
 The old church was totally destroyed in the great 
 fire of 1776, but had been rebuilt. It has since, 
 changing its liturgy, removed to West Twenty-second 
 Street, New York City. 
 
Chapter Fourth 
 
 ALMOST two centuries have rolled on their 
 course since Andre Freneau, the founder of 
 the family in America bade farewell to the 
 quaint old city of La Rochelle in France to face the 
 shores which were thenceforward to be his home. 
 
 The pitiless hands of time and fire have obliterated 
 nearly every trace of his existence. The family rec 
 ords, along with much that was valuable in the way 
 of letters and manuscripts, perished in the flames 
 that consumed the family residence of Philip Freneau 
 at Mount Pleasant (now Freneau) in Monmouth 
 County, New Jersey, in the year 1818. 
 
 One old relic, piously rescued from the relentless 
 flames, remains, and mutely seems to say, " I alone 
 have escaped to tell you." This heirloom in the 
 form of a Bible, published in Geneva in the year 1587, 
 has been in the Freneau family, perhaps before, but 
 certainly ever since the year 1590. The first record 
 on its time-worn pages tells us that it was in that year 
 it began its journey from father to son, as was the 
 custom in the Huguenot families in France. 
 
 It alone remains to tell us of the hands it has passed 
 through, until the present time, when, for want of 
 male heirs, it has come into the possession of a 
 great-granddaughter of Philip Freneau, the Poet of 
 the Revolution. 
 
 Its record runneth thus : 
 
 Ce livre fut donne par Philip P. Fresneau a son unique fila 
 Jacque. Janvier 3 d 1590. 
 
 De Jacque Fresneau a son second fils Jacque Fresneau 
 Janvier i eme 1605* 
 
 [ 49 ] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 De Jacque Fresneau a son second fils Thomas Fresneau 
 Janvier i re 1630. 
 
 De Thomas Fresneau a son frere Jean. Janvier 1653 
 
 De Jean Fresneau a son fils Andre Fresneau mon second 
 Janvier i re 1680 
 
 De And. Fresneau a son second fils Andre Fresneau 
 Jan. i re 1702 
 
 De Andre Fresneau a son second fils Pierre Fresneau 
 Jan. i re 1725 
 
 De Pierre Fresneau a son premiere fils Philip Fresneau 
 Jan. 2 d 1752(0 S) 
 
 Philip Morin Freneau recoit ce livre de son pere Pierre 
 Freneau. 
 
 Philip Morin Freneau departed this life Dec. i8 th 1830. 
 aged 80 yrs. n mo. & 13 days. 
 
 It is a remarkable coincidence that its first and last 
 possessors of the name of Freneau should have borne 
 the name of Philip, and that of its nine owners they 
 should be the only ones that bore that Christian name. 
 
 This Bible, being a Protestant version, was expatri 
 ated along with its owners. 
 
 The family of de Fresneau belonged to La Ro- 
 chelle, once famous in the history of the Huguenots 
 now so changed in their regard. This name, we 
 are told, was of some note amongst the Rochellais, 
 but how it happened that its members escaped the fate 
 of so many of their compatriots, we are not told ; the 
 flames have guarded their secrets well. 
 
 That the family residence of Andre the refugee was 
 named " Mont Plaisant" is the only fact of transatlan 
 tic days that has been transmitted to his descendants. 
 
 It must have been a dreary place, that La Rochelle, 
 and like a city of the dead to those remaining there like 
 the grapes left from the vintage ! How all things around 
 them must perforce have brought up sad memories of 
 those who had once lived and loved amongst them, 
 but were now wanderers on the face of the earth. 
 
 [so] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 There was la Lanterne, 1 in which Gabriel Bernon 
 and so many others had been imprisoned ; and not far 
 from it stood the former dwelling of Pierre Jay. The 
 residence of Ester Le Roy still faced the king s palace, 
 but the voice of Ester was no longer heard within its 
 walls. Of the Bernons, one alone was left in the old 
 mansion, so veiled in mystery, and in which the remain 
 ing Huguenots met for their secret services. The dwell 
 ings of the Allaires and Du Fonts, even if not entirely 
 without occupants, yet lacked some of the former 
 members of their families, who were now numbered 
 amongst the aliens of the land of their birth. 
 
 There were yet to be seen the old Scriptural inscrip 
 tions, or verses from Marot, over the small, plain 
 doorways that gave to the street, but opened inwardly 
 into residences in which evidences of wealth, refine 
 ment, and elegance met the eye. 
 
 The narrow, crooked streets, where formerly the 
 tokens of recognition were so frequently interchanged, 
 were peopled with strange faces. No wonder, then, 
 that hearts should sicken and desires awaken to leave 
 these sadly suggestive spots, and that Andre Fre- 
 neau should bid good-bye to his native land. 
 
 We may imagine the sentiments he experienced as 
 the sombre towers of la Lanterne and Saint Nicolas 
 faded from his view, and the receding shores of the 
 isles of Re and Oleron told him that he was hence 
 forth a stranger to the land of his fathers. 
 
 We would infer^from his age at the date of his 
 death that at the time of the revocation of the Edict 
 of Nantes, in 1685, ne was but ten years of age, and 
 from the fact of the ancient Bible having been pre 
 sented to him in the year 1702 it would seem like a 
 parting gift from his father. 
 
 1 La Lanterne was built for a lighthouse, but was used as a prison during 
 the persecution of the Huguenots. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 It is most probable that he first went to England, 
 and from there directed his course to the port of Bos 
 ton, but we do not hear of him in the new world until 
 the year 1705. 
 
 In this year rumors of copper being discovered in 
 the township of Suffolk, Connecticut, caused the pro 
 prietors in that locality to appoint a commission to in 
 stitute a search, which proved successful. The news 
 travelled to Boston and caused some capitalists there 
 to interest themselves in excavating. 
 
 The land had been the hunting ground of Indians, 
 and being unclaimed property th^ proprietors of the 
 town of Simsbury assumed its control, and leased the 
 ground to some private individuals as well as com 
 panies. Andre Freneau proceeded thither and, leasing 
 a mine, began to excavate. 
 
 According to the laws regulating the colony, smelt 
 ing of ore was prohibited ; therefore, loading a vessel, 
 Freneau shipped it to London. The ship was cap 
 tured by a French cruiser, and his enterprise resulted 
 in total loss. So great were the disadvantages attend 
 ing mining at that time, it is not surprising that Fre 
 neau, in the year 1707, relinquishing all hopes of realiz 
 ing any profit from his enterprise, left the mining 
 district and turned his thoughts to the city of New 
 York, where Benjamin Faneuil had already commenced 
 commercial business. 1 It is not certain whether Louis 
 Allaire preceded or followed him to that city. 
 
 Upon arriving in New York Andre engaged in the 
 shipping business, and also acted in the interests of the 
 " Royal West India Company of France," in which he 
 was associated with Etienne Delancey, Auguste Jay, 
 Benjamin Faneuil, Rene Het, and others. 
 
 1 This mine was afterwards converted into a prison called Newgate, and 
 was the first state prison in Connecticut. The excavations served for the 
 safe keeping of the convicts. The prison was afterwards removed to Weth- 
 ersfield, and the mine is now used as a show place. It retains the name of 
 Copper Hill. 
 
Poet of the Revolution 
 
 On the seventeenth of June in the year 1710, Andre 
 married Marie, the eldest daughter of Pierre Morin, or 
 Morine, whose name appears as the head of a family in 
 the records of the Church of St. Esprit. He was the 
 maternal grandfather of John Morin Scott, the promi 
 nent Whig lawyer, of whom we will speak hereafter. 
 
 After his marriage, Andre and his young wife, who 
 had just entered her seventeenth year, resided on 
 lower Broadway facing Bowling Green, which was at 
 that time the aristocratic part of the city, and it is said 
 he entertained in considerable style. His name ap 
 pears in the records of the French Church as the head 
 of a family, and an ancien of the church. 
 
 It had always been the custom in the temple, or 
 principal religious edifice, of the Huguenots, for the 
 anciens, or elders, to have, along with the consistoire, 
 prominent seats reserved for them during the services. 
 In the mother country, the consistory was composed 
 only of the pastors of the churches in a certain district, 
 and one ancien chosen from each congregation, to rep 
 resent it in the assembly. As such members were 
 charged with the oversight of the flock and its tempo 
 ralities, as well as their spiritual interests, the office was 
 one of considerable responsibility, as well as honor. 
 In New York, there being but one congregation, the 
 elders formed the consistory. They were elected every 
 three years. 
 
 In the year 1713, a robbery having been committed 
 in Trinity Church, of which the Rev. Mr. Vesey was 
 rector, the minister and consistory of the Church of St. 
 Esprit, fearing a like sacrilege, presented a petition to 
 the governor that the perpetrators should be appre 
 hended and brought to justice. 
 
 The petition being of no great leiigth, and its 
 quaintness amusing, we will insert it. We have failed 
 to find any method amongst the colonial writers gen 
 erally, whether English, French, or Dutch, for the use 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 of capitals, consequently we are almost led to think 
 that such letters were thrown promiscuously amongst 
 the type, finding, wherever they chanced to lodge, " a 
 local habitation and a name/ However, as we never 
 remember to have found them in the middle of a 
 word, there may have been some rule to govern such 
 a contingency. 
 
 It would not be surprising if this promiscuous and 
 generous use of big letters first caused Lindley, the son 
 of Robert Murray, proprietor of the " leathern con- 
 veniency " of colonial days, to project his grammar. 
 
 Address of the Minister and Elders of the French Church in 
 
 New York. 
 
 To THE HONN BLE HER MAJESTIES COUNCELL FOR THE PROVINCE OF 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 Wee the Ministers & Elders of the Reformed Protestant 
 french Church within the citty of new york cannot sufficiently 
 express our abhorrance of that Wicked, and Sacrileges Fact, 
 committed the Night Between Tuesday and Wednesday Last, 
 by some Impious Persons in Trinity Church within this Citty : 
 Being a structure built and dedicated to the service of God, the 
 discovery and Punishment of wich hainous crime, wee estime 
 ourselves, so deeply concerned in, to the end it may deterr 
 others from attempting the Like on that, our, or any other 
 Building sett apart for divine worshipp within this citty ; That 
 wee humbly take Leave to offer to your honnours, That iff his 
 Excellency, or your honn ble board, shall think fitt to Issue a 
 proclamation with a Reward to the Person that shall make a 
 discovery of the said wicked offense ; we shall Cheerfully 
 contribute the sume of tenn Pound towards an Incouragement 
 for the Person that shall make such a discovery, and in duty 
 bound wee shall pray, &c. 
 
 LEWIS Rou.\. Minister 
 
 of the French Church in N. York 
 JOHN BARBARIE Elder 
 Louis CARRE ancien 
 
 New York i6th JEAN LAPORT ancien 
 
 February I7^f ANDRE FRESNEAU ancien 
 
 [54} 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 The date of Andre s marriage is not recorded in the 
 register of the French church, which is explained by 
 the fact of the frequent interruptions in its services. 
 Marriages and baptisms were frequently performed for 
 the Huguenots in Trinity or in the Dutch church. 
 Andre s marriage does appear in the register of the 
 Dutch church, but the baptisms of all his children are 
 registered in the French church, and in the following 
 order : 
 
 Bapteme. Auiourdhui dimanche 29* de Juillet 1711 mons r 
 Louis Rou notre pasteur a Baptise Andre Fresneau ne le 
 24 e de ce mois a 3 heures du matin fils de Andre Fresneau 
 et de Marie Morin presente au S 1 Bapteme aprest la priere 
 du soir par la S r Morin et Judith Jamain Parein et mareinne. 
 
 L. Rou Pasteur 
 
 AND 6 FRESNEAU 
 PIERRE MORIN 
 JUDITH JAMAIN 
 
 Bapteme. Aiourdhuy dimanche 8 e fevrier I7yf aprest la 
 priere du soir monsieur Louis Rou a Baptise Marie Fresneau 
 nee le 4 de ce mois fille d Andre Fresneau et de Marie sa 
 femme presentee au S 4 Bapteme par le dit Andre Fresneau et 
 Marie Morin Parein et marienne. 
 
 L. Rou min. 
 
 AND 6 FRESNEAU 
 MARIE MORIN 
 
 Baptesme. A la nouvelle york de 9 me d octobre 1715 au- 
 iourdhuy dimanche aprest la priere du soir mons r Louis Rou a 
 Baptise Marguerite Fresneau nee de 8 e de ce mois fille de 
 Andre Fresneau et de Marie son Epouse presente au S Bap 
 teme par Alexandre Allaire et Marguerite Morin parain et 
 mareine. 
 
 AND 6 FRESNEAU 
 
 L. Rou mmlstre ALEXANDER ALLAIRE 
 
 MARGUERITE MORIN 
 
 Bapteme Le samedy n me Janvier 17 1 J. avant mydy Est ne 
 Pierre Fresneau fils d Andre Fresneau et de Marie Morin bap- 
 
 [55] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 tise par Mons. Louis Rou en sa maison la dimanche 19* du 
 meme mois presente aii S 4 Bapteme par Mons r Rene Het et 
 Mad. Ester Charron Parain et maraine. 
 
 ANDRE FRESNEAU 
 L. Rou Pasteur RENE HET 
 
 ESTER CHARRON 
 
 Bapteme. A la nouvelle york ce n me de Mars 171 1 Au- 
 iordhui mercredy aprest la priere du matin Mons. .Louis Rou 
 a Baptise Thomas Louis Fresneau ne le 5 me de ce mois fils de 
 Mons r Andre et Marie Fresneau presente au S* Bapteme par 
 Mons r Thomas Bayeux et Mad le Ester Morin Parrain et mar- 
 raine. 
 
 ANDRE FRESNEAU 
 
 L. Rou ministre THOMAS BAYEUX 
 
 ESTER MORIN 
 
 Bapteme, a la Nouvelle york ce 24* de Juillet 1720 Auiour- 
 dhuy dimanche aprest Faction du soir Mons r Moulinars a Bap 
 tise Francois Fresneau ne le 2 d de ce mois fils de monsieur 
 Andre Fresneau et de Marie son Epouse presente au S 1 Bap 
 teme par monsieur Louis Allaire et Mad e Judy Morin parain 
 et marrainne. 
 
 ANDRE FRESNEAU 
 
 J. J. MOULINARS Pasteur Louis ALLAIRE 
 
 JUDITH MORIN 
 
 We find the name of Andre Fresneau mentioned in 
 the Journal of John Fontaine, a kinsman of the cele 
 brated Commodore Maury. As this Journal depicts 
 the condition of New York City, as well as its society, 
 at the time of Mr. Fresneau s residence there, we will 
 copy that particular portion of it. A few words as to 
 its author may not be out of place as an introduction. 
 
 The family of John Fontaine, or de La Fontaine, 
 were Huguenot refugees who left their native land at 
 the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, tak 
 ing up their residence in England. At the age of sev 
 enteen, and in the year 1710, John de La Fontaine 
 received the appointment of ensign in Lord Shaw s 
 
CHURCH DU ST. ESPRIT 
 Rear View, 1776 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 regiment of infantry. After serving three years in 
 the British army, he retired from the service and in 
 the following year emigrated to America, settling 
 in the State of Virginia. 
 
 In 1716 Fontaine visited New York in company 
 with Mr. Michael Kearney, a member of the family 
 of Kearneys of New Jersey, combining business pur 
 poses with those of pleasure, as he was desirous of 
 seeing something of the country of his adoption. 
 
 The Journal commences with his departure from the 
 English coast, but we give only that portion which 
 relates to the family whose history we are giving. 
 
 October 22d, 1716. In the sloop at anchor under 
 Sandy Hook. The weather was so foggy all day that 
 we could not see the shore, nor landmarks, so we could 
 not hoist our anchor, for this is a very dangerous bay 
 to come up without one has fair weather to see the 
 landmarks. There are several banks and shoals of 
 sand which are very dangerous. There is a great deal 
 of water fowl of all sorts on these shoals. 
 
 24th. Calm weather, but such a fog that we could 
 not see half a mile. We had a mind to go ashore, but 
 the master and sailors were afraid that they could not 
 find the sloop again with the boat, so we consented to 
 remain on board. The fog is occasioned by the burn 
 ing the woods, for at this season the inhabitants set the 
 woods on fire, and the Indians also about this time of 
 the year go a fire hunting. 
 
 25th. Still at anchor, weather very foggy, so that 
 the master will not venture up with his sloop. About 
 twelve it cleared so that we could see the land, and we 
 got out the boat, and the men landed us in Staten 
 Island. We were obliged to walk about four miles, 
 not being able to hire any horses. This island is 
 mostly highland and rocky, and that part of the land 
 which is good is mixed with small stones. There are 
 some good improvements here ; the inhabitants are 
 
 [57] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 mostly Dutch ; the houses are all built with stone and 
 lime; there are some hedges as in England. The 
 chief increase is wheat and cattle. They breed large 
 horses here. About five of the clock we came to the 
 ferry between Long Island and Staten Island, which is 
 about one mile broad. The main body of New York 
 River runs between these islands. We crossed the 
 ferry and came upon Long Island to a small sort of 
 village, where, it being late, we put up at the house of 
 a Dutchman, one Harris Hendrick. We were well 
 lodged and had a good supper. 
 
 26th. About eight of the clock in the morning, we 
 hired two horses to go to New York. It is about 
 eight miles from this ferry by land, but not near so 
 much by water. Long Island is generally very plain 
 ground, bears extraordinary good grass, and is an ex 
 cellent place for cattle. It produceth wheat and all 
 English grain in abundance. The chief part of the 
 inhabitants are Dutch, but there are some few French. 
 Amongst them are several good improvements, and 
 many fine villages ; the woods are mostly destroyed. 
 Besides the plentiful produce of the Island, there is 
 every advantage for fishing and fowling that can be 
 wished. About seven o clock we came to a fine vil 
 lage 1 opposite New York, and we crossed the ferry. 
 The river is about a quarter of a mile over, and runs 
 very rapidly ; there are good, convenient landings on 
 both sides. As soon as we landed we went and agreed 
 for our lodgings with a Dutch woman named Schuyler, 
 and then I went to see Mr. Andre Fresneau at his 
 house, and he received me very well. 
 
 27th. About nine I breakfasted at the Coffee 
 House, and at eleven I waited upon Governor Hunter, 
 who received me very kindly and invited me to dine 
 with him. After dinner I walked with him about the 
 
 1 Brooklyn. 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 fort, wherein he Jives. It is a small square situated 
 upon a height above the town, and commanding it. 
 The one side of it fronts the harbor, and hath a 
 small curtain and two bastions ; the land side hath but 
 t^o half bastions to it, so that it is a square composed 
 of two whole and two half bastions. There is a rave 
 lin toward the land that lies on one side of the gate. 
 It is but a weak place, and badly contrived. There is 
 a regiment here, and the Governor always hath a 
 guard, and this is all the duty they have, which is very 
 little. From the Governor I went to see the Mayor 
 of the town, one Dr. Johnson, and was kindly re 
 ceived by him ; thence to Col. Delarty s. 
 
 28th. About eight of the clock in the morning 
 Mr. Kearny and I hired horses and went about seven 
 miles out of town to see one Colonel Morriss, 1 who 
 lives in the country, and is Judge or Chief Justice of 
 this province, a very sensible and good man. We 
 were received well by him and remained with him all 
 night ; and we saw a great many fine improvements 
 that he had made, and he showed us several rare col 
 lections of his own making. He lives upon the river 
 that comes down to New York. 
 
 29th. We were invited to dine with Mr. Hamilton 
 and Mr. Lane. After dinner I visited Mr. Fresneau 
 and had a great deal of discourse with him about 
 the trade of Virginia. From thence I walked round the 
 town. There are three churches, the English, the 
 French, and the Dutch Church ; there is also a place 
 for the Assembly to sit, which is not very fine, and 
 where they judge all matters. The town is compact, 
 
 1 Judge Lewis Morris, son of Richard Morris, a former captain in the 
 Parliamentary army, who settled in Westchester County, where his son 
 Lewis was born and resided in later life. In 1715 Lewis received a com 
 mission as Chief Justice for the Province of New York, which position he 
 held until displaced for political causes by Governor Cosby. In the ex 
 citing public affairs of the period, Judge Morris was the leading man in 
 the liberal party. He was subsequently Governor of New Jersey. 
 
 [S9] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 the houses for the most part built after the Dutch 
 manner, with the gable ends towards the street ; the 
 streets are of good breadth. The town is built close 
 upon the river, and there is a fine quay that reigns all 
 round the town, built with stone and piles of wood 
 outside. There are small docks for cleaning and 
 building small ships. At high water the vessels come 
 up to the quay to lade and unlade. In winter the 
 river is frozen, sometimes all over, and abundance of 
 ice comes down, that it often cuts the cables of ships, 
 but it cannot hurt those near the quay. The town is 
 built on ground that gradually rises from the water, so 
 it is amphitheatre like. The French have all the privi 
 leges that can be, and are the most in number here ; 
 they are of the Council and of the Parliament, and are 
 in all other employments. The chief produce of this 
 province is beef, flour, pork, butter, and cheese, which 
 they send to the West Indies, and sometimes to Lisbon. 
 They drive a great trade with the northern Indians 
 for skins and furs. There is plenty of all sorts of fish, 
 oysters, and water-fowl. The climate is very cold in 
 winter, a great deal of snow and frost for four months, 
 and very hot in the latter part of the summer. 
 
 3 1 st. At ten went to the Coffee house and walked 
 upon the Exchange, which hath pillars of wood all 
 round, which support the roof and leave it open on 
 all sides. I dined with Mr. Andre Fresneau and 
 remained with him till four of the clock, and at six to 
 the French Club, where they treated me. 
 
 4th Nov. 1716. At ten I went to Mr. Fresneau, 
 and with him to church. I returned to his house 
 and dined with him, and at half an hour after two 
 we went to church again. The church is very large 
 and beautiful, and within it there was a very great 
 congregation. 
 
 5th. At ten in the morning I carried Mr. Fres 
 neau a memorandum of the prices of goods. 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 6th. Visited Mr. Fresneau. The Postmaster Gene 
 ral, Mr. Hamilton, invited me to dinner. 
 
 7th. At ten waited on Governor Hunter and drank 
 tea with him. At four I went to the coffee house, 
 where I met with Mr. Fresneau and at six we went 
 to the French Club. 
 
 1 4th. At six we arrived at Philadelphia, a town 
 which is situated upon rising ground on Delaware 
 River. The inhabitants are mostly Quakers. I 
 visited Mr. Samuel Perez and gave him Mr. Fres- 
 neau s letter, etc. 
 
 1 9th. At eight of the clock set out from Mr. 
 Patterson s, which is about sixty miles from Phila 
 delphia, and at twelve arrived at the Court House 
 of the county of Kent, where we baited our horses. 
 About three Mr. Kearny and I went to his brother s 
 house in the neighborhood, where we put up and 
 remained all night. 
 
 2oth. It being rainy we remained where we were, 
 and had good entertainment. This gentleman, Mr. 
 Kearny hath a plantation and an extraordinary good 
 tannery. 
 
 It is not certain in what year the Freneau 
 family left the French congregation. The last of 
 their baptisms was registered in its records in the 
 year 1720 ; consequently it was not before that date. 
 There is no record of Mrs. Freneau s death, which 
 occurred in the year 1721 ; but this is not a conclu 
 sive proof that they severed their connection with 
 it before that date, as, in looking over the register, 
 we find only one interment recorded during the entire 
 forty years of Mr. Rou s pastorate, except the burials 
 of his own five children ; these are most carefully 
 noted. 
 
 Andre s death occurred in the year 1725. As he 
 was buried in the family vault of Trinity churchyard, 
 
 [6f] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 it is probable that he joined that congregation during 
 his lifetime. It is not improbable that the difficulty 
 between the minister and congregation in the year 
 1724 was the cause of his leaving the communion 
 of the French Church, and joining that of Trinity, 
 as many prominent families joined the congregations 
 of the other churches at that time. 
 
 It would seem that "Aunt Allaire" took charge 
 of the orphaned family, as the eldest chitd, Andre, 
 was only thirteen years of age at the death of his 
 father, and the youngest, Fra^ois, only five. It also 
 appears that she remained ever after with them, keep 
 ing house first for Andre, who never married, and 
 after his death living in Mount Pleasant, New Jersey, 
 in the home of his brother Pierre. 
 
 Upon reaching man s estate Andre carried on the 
 Bordeaux and Madeira trade. The only record we 
 have of him is that of being witness to the marriage 
 of his cousin, Marie Allaire, which took place in the 
 house of her parents in the year 1754. Although this 
 marriage occurred in the year mentioned, it was not 
 registered in the records of the church of Saint Esprit 
 until the year 1761. If we mistake not, only one mar 
 riage was registered during Mr. Rou s long pastorate. 
 
 Mariage. En vertu d une Licence de M? James de 
 Lancey Lieutenant Gouvernour dans la province de la nou- 
 velle york et terres qui en dependant datee le 6 e Septembre 
 1754 et le 28 e annee du Regne de notre legitime souverain 
 george 24. Roy de la grande Britagne etc. Jay Beni ches 
 mad!. Alaire, le 8 e de Septembre 1754 le mariage de Louis 
 Pavez officier dans la Compagnie de fort George de cette 
 ville et Marie Allaire les temoins etaient Marguerite Allaire 
 mere de 1 Epousee, Jean Morin Scott, et Andre Freno ses 
 cousins germains et demoiselle Marie Morin grandmere de 
 Pepousee ce que je declare et enregistre pour servir come de 
 Besoin sera a la Nouvelle York ce 7 e Juillet 1761. 
 
 JEAN CARLE Pasteur. 
 
 [62] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 A small pencil sketch, with the words, <c Andrew 
 Fresneau s House 1756. Cor. Pearl and Wall streets," 
 which goes to prove that he lived there in that 
 year, and a statement that he died in the same 
 locality, are all the data we possess in regard to his 
 later life. The house seems to have been a large 
 and handsome one for that time, but when the family 
 removed there from the vicinity of Bowling Green 
 is not known ; most probably it was when the tide 
 of fashion began its northward march. Time has 
 obliterated the date of his death from the vault in 
 which he was most probably buried. 
 
 The fate of Andre s two sisters is very remarkable. 
 Marie, the eldest, was two years older than Mar 
 guerite ; and between the dates of their deaths, which 
 we find in an old note-book, there was an interval of 
 precisely two years ; consequently both died at the 
 same age, that of twenty-two years, and of the same 
 disease, that of the heart. One died in October of 
 the year 1736, the other in the same month of 1738. 
 
 A note adds that they were both beautiful ; and 
 that each died shortly before the time appointed for 
 her marriage ; the one, with a son of her father s 
 business associate, Etienne Delancey ; the other, to a 
 member of the Desbrosses family. 
 
 Pierre Freneau married Agnes Watson in the year 
 1748. All that we know of this lady s early life 
 is that she was twenty years of age at the time of 
 her marriage, and that she was related to John 
 Fanning Watson, the antiquary. 
 
 Thomas Louis died at the early age of three 
 months, and Fra^ois married Helen Provost, a rela 
 tive of the Right Reverend Samuel Provost. Some 
 writers have said the lady was his daughter, but this 
 is not very probable, as Fra^ois was many years 
 older than Bishop Provost. She may have been 
 his sister or aunt. 
 
 [4?-] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Francois had no children. 
 
 In Bishop Provost was united French and Dutch 
 ancestry. His father was of Huguenot descent and 
 his mother was Eve, daughter of Herman Bleecker. 
 He was one of the first seven graduates of King s, 
 now Columbia, College, New York City. His class 
 was that of 1758. It is said that, although he was the 
 youngest of all the graduates of that year, he carried 
 off the honors. He afterwards entered Cambridge 
 College, England, having for private tutor John Jebb, 
 a scholar of great attainments, and one in favor of 
 civil, as well as religious liberty. Provost was or 
 dained in King s College, Whitehall; and, after his 
 ordination, married the daughter of Thomas Bous- 
 field, a wealthy Irish banker. 1 
 
 Mr. Provost was appointed assistant minister in 
 Trinity Church, but resigned in the year 1774 on ac 
 count of his political sentiments. He was proposed as 
 a delegate to the Provincial Congress, but declined it, 
 as also the offer of chaplaincy to the Convention of 
 1777, which met to consider the great Constitution. 
 
 After the evacuation of the city by the British, in 
 1784, he was unanimously elected rector of Trinity 
 Church, and was one of the Board of Regents of the 
 University. He was appointed chaplain to the Con 
 tinental Congress in 1785. He received the title of 
 D.D. from the Pennsylvania University in 1786, and 
 in the following year went to England for his consecra 
 tion, which took place in Lambeth Palace. 
 
 In 1789 he was chaplain to the United States Sen 
 ate and officiated in the services held in St. Paul s 
 Church, New York, at the inauguration of Washing 
 ton as first President of the United States. He was 
 also one of the trustees of Columbia College. He 
 
 1 Mr. Bousfield s son Benjamin was a member of the Irish Parliament, 
 and wrote an able reply to Edmund Burke s celebrated work on the French 
 Revolution. 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 died of apoplexy in the year 1815, and was buried in 
 Trinity churchyard. As a scholar, Bishop Provost 
 was versed in Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and German, 
 and conversed fluently in French and Italian. It has 
 been said that he translated Tasso into the vernacular. 
 His sermons were full of character and force ; he is 
 said to have had no peer among American contempo 
 raries. He was so indifferent to literary reputation 
 that he never permitted his sermons to be printed. 
 
 In his funeral eulogy it was said of him that what 
 he undertook was to be admired as glorious ; what he 
 performed, to be commended as profitable ; and where 
 in he failed is to be excused as pardonable. 1 
 
 Pierre Freneau resided in Frankfort Street after 
 his marriage, and there his eldest son, Philip Morin 
 Freneau, the poet, was born. In the year of Philip s 
 birth, Pierre bought an estate of one thousand acres 
 in Monmouth County, New Jersey, upon which he 
 built a residence, naming it Mount Pleasant, after the 
 residence of his grandfather in La Rochelle. 
 
 Here he removed when Philip was in his second 
 year, and interested himself in the care of his increas 
 ing family and in the improvement of the estate. 
 Some of the trees planted by him are still standing. 
 Most of these were locusts, which formed a grove 
 around the house. Here all his children except Philip 
 were born, and their names were registered in his own 
 handwriting, thus : 
 
 Philip Morin Freneau born Jan. 2d O.S. 1752 
 Mary Freneau " Sept. loth 1754 
 
 Peter Freneau " April 5th 1757 
 
 Andrew Freneau " April 3d J 759 
 
 Margaret Allaire Freneau " Feb. 27th 1761 
 
 Pierre died in the year 1767, and was buried in the 
 family vault in Trinity churchyard, along with his 
 
 1 Appleton. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 parents and brothers and sisters. The vault has never 
 since been opened for an interment. 
 
 It is most unfortunate that, owing, first, to the Brit 
 ish occupancy of New York during the Revolution ; 
 secondly, to the disastrous fire of 1776 which destroyed 
 Trinity Church ; and thirdly, to the fact that a family 
 burying-ground was laid out in Mount Pleasant, the 
 vaults of the family in the city were forgotten until it 
 was too late to decipher the inscriptions. 
 
 Would that Old Mortality had lived in those days 
 or that there had been some other to do his work ! 
 
 "Aunt Allaire" dying in the year 1779, a burying- 
 ground was selected in a grove of locust trees, and 
 named from that fact "Locust Grove Cemetery;" and 
 she was laid therein. Her death was not entered in 
 the old Bible until some years later. It is in Philip s 
 handwriting and runs thus : 
 
 " 1779 Aunt Allaire was the first buried in the 
 Locust Grove, on the south side of my mother s 
 grave." 
 
 Mrs. Freneau did not long remain a widow. A few 
 years after Pierre s death she married Major James 
 Kearny, a member of the New Jersey family of 
 which General Philip Kearny is a descendant. 
 
 It is probably not universally known that Keyport, 
 in the northern part of New Jersey, was named from 
 that family. It was at first called K-port, then Kear- 
 nyport, and finally it was spelled in the way it is 
 at present. It is a singular coincidence that Philip s 
 stepfather should also be the grandfather of his grand 
 daughter s husband. 
 
 Major Kearny died a few years after his marriage, 
 and left Philip s mother again a widow. She did not 
 marry again. Her death is thus registered in the old 
 Bible: "Died on the i8th of October, 1817, Agnes 
 Kearny in her ninety-first year, born of Richard and 
 Margaret Watson in the year 1727 April the twenty- 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 third. She survived her first husband, Pierre Fre 
 neau, fifty years and one day ; her second, James 
 Kearny, nearly forty-five years. She was interred in 
 Locust Grove, the family burying-ground, on the 
 twentieth of October. Her funeral sermon preached 
 by Mr. Dubois from the words in Rev. chapt. I4th, 
 verse 13." 
 
 Of Philip and Peter, we will speak later on. Mary, 
 the eldest daughter, was said by her brother Philip to 
 be " as pure as an angel." She was said to be beauti 
 ful and accomplished, for those days. James Madi 
 son, afterwards president of the United States, and in 
 early days a college, class, and room mate, as well as 
 confidential friend, of her brother Philip in Nassau 
 Hall, Princeton, told the latter, confidentially, that he 
 admired her more than any woman he had ever seen ; 
 and, during his vacation visits to Mount Pleasant, 
 formed an acquaintanceship that ripened into something 
 more on his part. He made proposals of marriage to 
 her, but, although she admired and respected him, she 
 preferred to lead a single life, and could never be in 
 duced to alter her decision. 
 
 Mary lived to an advanced age, spending most of 
 her time with her dearly loved younger sister Mar 
 garet, whom she speedily followed to the grave. Her 
 brother Philip recorded her death in these words : 
 " Mary Freneau, eldest daughter of Peter Freneau 
 and Agnes Watson, died at Newburgh, New York 
 State, on Thursday evening, Jan. 22d, 1829. This 
 truly worthy woman was born in her father s house at 
 Mount Pleasant, near Middleton Point, on the loth 
 of September, 1754, and at the time of her decease 
 was well advanced in her 75th year. She was virtuous 
 and innocent as an angel, and if there is any happiness 
 in another life for the upright she certainly enjoys it. 
 Farewell. 
 
 " By the attention and care of her relative John S. 
 
 [67] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Hunn, her body was interred on Jan. 24th in the New- 
 burgh burying ground adjacent to the grave of her 
 sister Margaret A. Hunn, who died in 1828." 
 
 Andrew, the third and youngest son, died in infancy ; 
 and Margaret, the youngest daughter, having married 
 Mr. John S. Hunn, a resident of Newburgh, was not 
 buried in Locust Grove. Her sister, as we have seen, 
 faithful to her during life, was laid by her side in death. 
 Philip has entered only two of these deaths. 
 
 " My brother Andrew died of the small pox at 
 Middletown Point in April, 1759, aged about one year. 
 He was interred in the old burying ground near Mount 
 Pleasant which Hendrick Schenk now owns." 
 
 [68\ 
 
Chapter Fifth 
 
 MONT PLEASANT, now called Freneau, is 
 situated about ten miles north of Freehold, 
 the seat of Monmouth County, New Jer 
 sey. There is no picture extant of the old mansion in 
 its setting of locust trees ; but most likely it was built 
 in the usual style of country houses of that period. A 
 writer 1 upon colonial times says that the country resi 
 dences of the landed gentry of New York and New 
 Jersey resembled those of the large planters of the South, 
 in that they usually had the same wide hall running 
 through the house, the same large porticos and de 
 tached kitchens for summer use ; and that the condition 
 of life was somewhat similar, for, although the broad 
 acres of the former were usually farmed by tenants, 
 the house was always filled with domestic slaves ; and 
 there was the same tendency to imitate the life of the 
 English country families, as far as the surroundings 
 would permit. 
 
 I am quite certain that in Pierre Freneau s case the 
 latter paragraph did not hold good ; for, although he 
 probably conformed to the architectural style of his 
 adopted country, he still retained the French manner 
 of life that he had been accustomed to lead in his 
 father s house. 
 
 To the northeast of the mansion rose the tree- 
 crowned summit of what is now known as Beacon 
 Hill ; from whose heights may be seen, to the north, 
 the blue waters of the lower bay, and eastward, the 
 deeper blue of the broad Atlantic. From its foot 
 toward the south, stretch the fertile lands of New 
 Jersey, with the historic battle-field of Monmouth 
 
 1 Mr. Eggleston, in The Century Magazine. 
 
 [69] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 in the foreground, although at that time unstained 
 by the nation s blood. 
 
 As a boy, it was Philip s delight to climb the 
 rugged heights of the old hill, and feast his eyes 
 upon the beauties of nature spread before him, and 
 watch the white sails, which, like mammoth birds, 
 hovered over the foam-crested waves. It is very prob 
 able that these early scenes made a lasting impression 
 upon his youthful mind, and gave rise to his life 
 long yearning for the perils of the deep. 
 
 Did the future ever cast its long shadows over the 
 beauty of the scene, and cause the boy to draw 
 his breath yet more quickly, as if to assure himself 
 that the pure air of heaven was not wanting? Did 
 it seem at times as if already the heavy fetters were 
 pressing upon his freedom-loving hands and feet? 
 Was there ever an idea of suffering connected with 
 the flutter of those sails, as they passed and repassed 
 upon the peaceful waters ? 
 
 Probably not; yet the ancients believed that to 
 the poet it is given to penetrate the mysteries of 
 the future, and read the secrets written there. He 
 turns away perhaps tis so; but shortly after, in 
 a pleasanter mood, we see him bending over a new 
 found treasure, and inhaling the perfume of its pure 
 sweet breath. He seats himself, and, drawing from 
 his clothing a tiny tablet, he inscribes its perfections 
 thereon. Let us look over his shoulder, he will 
 not heed us, so busily is he engaged, and let us 
 read what he is so rapidly writing. 
 
 THE WILD HONEYSUCKLE. 
 Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, 
 
 Hid in this silent, dull retreat, 
 Untouched thy honied blossoms blow, 
 Unseen thy little branches greet : 
 
 No roving foot shall crush thee here, 
 
 No busy hand provoke a tear. 
 
 [TO] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 By nature s self in white arrayed, 
 
 She bade thee shun the vulgar eye, 
 And planted here the guardian shade, 
 And sent soft waters murmuring by ; 
 Thus quietly thy summer goes, 
 Thy days declining to repose. 
 
 Smit with those charms, that must decay, 
 
 I grieve to see your future doom ; 
 They died nor were those flowers more gay, 
 The flowers that did in Eden bloom ; 
 
 Unpitying frosts, and autumn s power, 
 
 Shall leave no vestige of this flower. 
 
 Ui 
 From morning s suns and evening s dews 
 
 At first thy little being came ; 
 If nothing once, you nothing lose, 
 For when you die you are the same ; 
 
 The space between is but an hour, 
 
 The frail duration of a flower. 
 
 At what precise age the little poet began to com 
 pose, we know not ; but we are told that verses flowed 
 from his pen while he was yet a child. 
 
 Philip s mother was a woman of rare intelligence 
 and exceptional education ; and she superintended 
 her son s studies until he had completed his tenth 
 year ; at which time he was placed, as customary in 
 those days, under the care of a minister to learn the 
 rudiments of the Greek and Latin languages, as a 
 preparation for the higher course. His sensible 
 mother knew that a boy of Philip s ardent tempera 
 ment required sterner control than a loving mother 
 could use ; and she willingly consented that he should 
 become an inmate of the household of the Reverend 
 William Tennant, pastor of the old Tennant Church, 
 which yet stands on Monmouth s battle-field, its 
 floor still bearing the stains of blood shed by 
 its country s martyrs. Perhaps, as a writer has re- 
 
 [7/1 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 marked, the boy, playing about what afterwards 
 became historic ground, was inspired by some unseen 
 power to become the " Poet of the Revolution," 
 as he has been styled. 
 
 Three years have passed away, and Philip has 
 been booked for the opening term in the Penolopen 
 Latin School, conducted by the Reverend Alexander 
 Mitchell, for a preparatory course in college. 
 
 The boy is on his way for the last time to the 
 residence of his tutor, having spent a short vaca 
 tion at home. Changes are always sad, even when 
 most desired; and as he trudges along, with his 
 favorite Horace under his arm, the merry whistle at 
 times takes a somewhat sadder strain, for are not 
 joyous natures ever the most capable of the deeper 
 sentiments ? He pauses on a slight eminence ; the 
 whistle dies upon his lips, and a dreamy look comes 
 over his face. There are moments in the lives 
 of most of us I might say portions of seconds 
 in which the misty veil of the future is raised ; 
 and down the vista of years our mental vision 
 has barely time to travel, and rest upon some 
 object, when the veil is dropped again, and we are 
 conscious only of an isolated impression, concern 
 ing which we would fain know more. Let us, too, 
 look beyond the veil and read the secrets of the 
 future. 
 
 Where the road forks, not far from the old Mon- 
 mouth meeting-house stands a war-horse ; and on 
 it leans a person of majestic mien dressed as a 
 soldier, none such, however, as Philip had ever 
 seen before. Anxiously he looks down the road, 
 as if awaiting some one. A soldier on horseback 
 rides up, and, throwing himself from his horse, makes 
 a military salute, as if to a superior, and imparts 
 some information of .a seemingly unpleasant nature. 
 The officer quickly throws himself into the saddle, 
 
 [72] 
 
AGNES WATSON 
 
 Mother of Philip Freneau 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 and both riders disappear in the distance, from which 
 the rolling of drums and rattle of musketry are 
 heard. 
 
 The boy pursues his way wrapped in deep thought ; 
 a morass lies to one side of the roadway, over which 
 comes the wailing of the wintry wind, and great 
 storm-clouds veil the sun. The snow begins to fall 
 
 thicker and yet faster its great flakes come; and 
 by the border of the morass lies an aged man as 
 if asleep ; the large flakes fall upon his upturned 
 face, and play amongst his silvery locks and the 
 night falls The boy shudders and passes his hand 
 across his eyes to know if he is really awake. The 
 wind has fallen and the sun is brightly shining ; 
 the aged sleeper has vanished, and with him the 
 wintry storm. It is now what it was a moment ago, 
 
 a beautiful, bright morning in December, the eigh 
 teenth of the month. 
 
 On the fourteenth day of February in the year 
 1766, Philip s father left him in the care of the 
 Reverend Mr. Mitchell, where he remained until 
 November the seventh, of sixty-eight. His father 
 had died the previous year, and, much as his widowed 
 mother desired to retain Philip with her, she did not 
 blind herself to the fact that his freedom-loving spirit 
 needed the discipline that a set form of rules, enforced 
 by a firm hand, alone could give. She also realized that, 
 although there were many undesirable features in a 
 college life, still the training of the intellectual capa 
 bilities received therein surpassed all other, and con 
 sequently his power of benefiting others would be 
 enhanced. Therefore, in accordance with her late 
 husband s views, Philip was harnessed into the rou 
 tine of a collegiate course, in Nassau Hall, Princeton, 
 New Jersey. 
 
 During Philip s course John Witherspoon was 
 president of the college. He was Scotch by birth, 
 
 [73} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 r 
 
 L 
 
 but had thrown himself heart and soul into the 
 fortunes of his adopted country ; and his great desire 
 was to see it free from the galling yoke of servi 
 tude. Just before Philip s entrance General Gage 
 had marched with seven hundred troops into Boston ; 
 and the colonies were thrown into a state of excite 
 ment by an Act of Parliament which declared the 
 people of Massachusetts rebels; it had also issued 
 an order for those considered the most guilty to be 
 sent to England for trial. 
 
 The young patriots of Princeton were not backward 
 in denouncing this injustice; they kindled amongst 
 themselves the fire of patriotism, that was never to 
 be extinguished, and their efforts were encouraged by 
 their patriotic president. Many of Philip s classmates 
 took an active part in later troubles, and left their 
 names inscribed in their country s annals. 
 
 Nearly all his college-mates obtained prominence 
 in the paths they entered in after life. Amongst 
 these were Hugh Henry Brackenridge, the talented 
 author and judge ; Brockholst Livingston, 1 future Jus 
 tice of the Supreme Court of the United States ; 
 William Bradford, Attorney General during Wash 
 ington s second term of office ; Gunning Bedford, a 
 framer of the Constitution ; Samuel Spring, chaplain 
 to the Revolutionary army ; who, by a strange coin 
 cidence, carried wounded from the field another old 
 classmate, Aaron Burr, afterwards Vice President of 
 the United States ; Aaron Ogden, afterwards Governor 
 of New Jersey; Henry Lee, Light-Horse Harry; and 
 James Madison, the fourth President, who was Philip s 
 room-mate while in college, as well as his warm per 
 sonal friend, and an aspirant, as we have already seen, 
 for the hand of his sister. 
 
 Philip Fithian, class of 73, in a letter to his father, 2 
 
 1 This college-mate was afterwards related to Philip by marriage. 
 
 2 Philip Vickers Fithian, Journal and Letters. 
 
 [74} 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 gives us an idea of the routine of college life in 
 Nassau Hall during President Witherspoon s admin 
 istration. He says the rules were exceedingly well 
 formed " to check & restrain the vicious & to 
 assist the studious, & to countenance & encourage 
 the virtuous. * The bell for rising was rung at five 
 o clock, and lest any one might oversleep themselves, 
 the servant, after ringing the bell, knocked at each 
 door until the sleeper awoke. Half an hour was 
 allowed for them to dress, after which prayers were 
 said in common. The grammar scholars, being mostly 
 small boys, were excused during winter from morn 
 ing prayers. On Sundays no student was allowed, 
 except by reason of sickness, to be absent from pub 
 lic worship. Two sermons were preached, one in 
 church in the morning, and another in the college 
 hall in the afternoon. He styles Dr. Witherspoon s 
 sermons almost inimitable. It is to be feared that 
 some of the gifted preacher s moral lessons were lost 
 upon a few of his hearers, as in a later letter Fithian 
 writes : cc I am sorry that I may inform you that two 
 of our members were expelled from the college, not 
 for Drunkenness, nor Fighting, nor for Swearing, nor 
 Sabbath-Breaking. But they were sent from this 
 Seminary, where the greatest Pains and Care are taken 
 to cultivate and encourage Decency, & Honesty, & 
 Honour, for stealing Hens!" In 1773, one Israel 
 Evans mentions some delinquencies of a higher 
 grade, in which the future Justice of the United 
 States along with some others were fined for " stealing 
 Turkies." In that year 1770 there were upward of 
 one hundred students, including the grammar scholars. 
 The Senior class contained ten, the Junior twenty- 
 eight, the Sophomore twenty-five, and Freshman eigh 
 teen. Freneau was a Senior at the time. 
 
 During Philip s first year we are told he made 
 such rapid progress as to cause the President to 
 
 [75] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 make his proficiency the subject-matter of a letter 
 to his mother. It is said that in his early days, 
 Philip gave such evidence of his satirical powers 
 upon whatever gave him displeasure as to cause him 
 to be as much dreaded as a foe as he was loved as a 
 friend. 
 
 In his sophomore year he wrote a poem in four 
 cantos, entitled " The Poetical History of the Prophet 
 Jonah ; " a rhythmical poem, or " versified paraphrase/ 
 to use his own expression. He likewise wrote other 
 compositions in various metres, on classical and 
 historical themes, during his collegiate course. Two 
 years after depicting Jonah s sad fate, he wrote the 
 u Pyramids of Egypt," a dramatic dialogue in blank 
 verse. The scene of this poem is laid in Egypt, and 
 the characters are a Traveller, a Genius, and Time ; it 
 contains one hundred and thirty-five lines, and was 
 considered a remarkable poem for one so young. The 
 plot of the poem we give. 
 
 The Traveller, who has visited Italy, arrives in 
 Egypt, meets the Genius, and asks to be shown the 
 Pyramids, saying that he thought the remnants of 
 Rome he had lately seen were unrivalled. The 
 Genius thus answers : 
 
 " Talk not of Rome ! before they lopt a bush 
 
 From the seven hills, where Rome, Earth s Empress, stood, 
 These Pyramids were old, their birthday is 
 Beyond tradition s reach, or history." 
 
 On seeing them, the Traveller asks how many 
 generations, monarchies, and empires 
 
 " had their rise and fall 
 While these remain and promise to remain, 
 As long as yonder sun shall gild their summits, 
 Or moon, or stars, their wonted circles run." 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 The Genius replies : 
 
 u The time shall come 
 
 When these stupendous piles you deem immortal, 
 Worn out with age shall moulder on their bases, 
 And down, down, low to endless ruin verging, 
 O er-whelmed by dust, be seen and known no more. 
 
 T was on this plain the ancient Memphis stood, 
 Her walls encircled these tall pyramids, 
 But where is Pharao s palace, where the domes 
 Of Egypt s haughty lords ? All, all, are gone, 
 And like the phantom snows of a May morning 
 Left not a vestige to discover them ! " 
 
 To the Traveller s question as to how the Pyramids 
 were built, the Genius says : 
 
 " What cannot tyrants do, 
 When they have nations subject to their will, 
 And the world s wealth to gratify ambition ? 
 Millions of slaves beneath their labors fainted, 
 Who here were doomed to toil incessantly, 
 And years elapsed while groaning myriads strove 
 To raise this mighty tomb, and but to hide 
 The worthless bones of an Egyptian king." 
 
 The poem closes with Time s address to the Traveller 
 in these striking lines : 
 
 " These piles are not immortal ; 
 This earth, with all its balls of hills and mountains, 
 Shall perish by my hand. Then how can these, 
 These hoary-headed pyramids of Egypt, 
 That are but dwindled warts upon her body, 
 That on a little, little spot of ground 
 Extinguish the dull radiance of the sun, 
 Be proof to death and me ! Traveler, return, 
 There s naught but God immortal He alone 
 Exists secure, when Man, and Death, and Time, 
 
 [77] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 (Time not immortal, but a fancied point in the circle of 
 
 eternity) 
 
 Are swallowed up, and like the pyramids, 
 Leave not an atom for their monument." 
 
 "Is not this true poetry ? " Mr. Delancey adds. 
 "Is it not extraordinary as the work of a youth of 
 eighteen years? But one other American poet ever 
 wrote anything to compare with it so early in life. 
 Bryant wrote at nineteen his c Thanatopsis, and 
 never later did he surpass that great poem." 
 
 In the year 1770 the soldiers in New York City cut 
 down a liberty pole that had been erected by the band 
 of patriots called the "Sons of Liberty." A conflict 
 ensued in which the latter won the day. Shortly after 
 this event the Boston massacre occurred, which created 
 a great sensation throughout the country. As we 
 have already said, President Witherspoon was an 
 ardent patriot, and he left no means untried to instil 
 into the minds of his collegians the same fire of 
 enthusiasm that burned within him ; and his efforts 
 met a ready response in the enthusiastic temperament 
 of Philip, whose hatred of oppression and of England 
 was equalled only by his passionate love of liberty and 
 America. During his college days the young poet 
 offered his pen on the shrine of Liberty, and vowed to 
 ever use it in her sacred service. How well he used 
 it, her enemies best can tell. His pen was his bayonet, 
 and its wounds were mortal. 
 
 In 1 77 1, the year of Philip s graduation, he composed, 
 jointly with Hugh Henry Brackenridge, their com 
 mencement address, which they recited. It was entitled 
 " The Rising Glory of America," and was written in 
 
 1 I am indebted to Mr. Edward F. Delancey for permission to reprint 
 this fragment of the poem along with his remarks which are taken from 
 his lecture before the Huguenot Society of America entitled " Philip 
 Freneau the Huguenot Patriot Poet of the Revolution and his Poetry." 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 blank verse in the form of a dialogue. It was in 
 eulogy of the energy and progress of the colonies, and 
 prophetic of the future glory of the United States. 
 The poem was well received and appeared two years 
 later in print in Philadelphia. Its motto, taken from 
 Seneca, was afterwards adopted by Washington Irving 
 as the heading to his " Life of Columbus/ 
 
 I would call the attention of the reader to his eulogy 
 of Washington in the poem which is used as the 
 dedicatory poem of this work ; his admiration of that 
 illustrious man s character never waned, although in 
 after years many and severe were his comments upon 
 his policy. 
 
 This poem has been said by a reviewer 1 to possess 
 cc considerable merit in respect to the ease of its versi 
 fication and beauty of its description; and although as 
 a whole it bears the marks of youth, some points are 
 worthy of a person of mature years, and will not suffer 
 by comparison with similar productions of the present 
 day." In it he has displayed his remarkable prophetic 
 gift. 
 
 The ivy planted by the class of 7 1 still clasps in its 
 embrace the old walls that supported it during the 
 many varied and thrilling scenes through which it 
 passed ; but the hands that planted it have long since 
 turned to dust. 
 
 Upon leaving college, Philip, to comply with the 
 desire of his deceased father that he should study 
 divinity, accepted an invitation from Hugh Henry 
 Brackenridge, his former classmate and fellow-orator 
 of 71, to take the second position in a seminary in 
 Maryland, of which he, Brackenridge, was to be 
 principal, and at the same time pursue his theological 
 course. 
 
 It would seem from the letter to Madison while 
 with Brackenridge, that in the interim of his leaving 
 
 1 North American Review, v. xciii. 
 
 179} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Princeton and beginning his course of teaching and 
 study in the Maryland seminary, he had tried his 
 hand at pedagogy in Flatbush, Long Island ; we will 
 let him describe his non-success in that occupation 
 which he held some thirteen days. 
 
 SOMERSET COUNTY IN MARYLAND. 
 
 November 22, 1772. 
 
 SIR, If I am not wrongly informed by my memory, I 
 have not seen you since last April. You may recollect I was 
 then undertaking a school at Flatbush on Long Island. I did 
 enter upon the business, it is certain, and continued in it 
 thirteen days but Long Island I have bid adieu, with all 
 its brainless crew. The youth of that detested place, are 
 void of reason and of grace. From Flushing hills to Flat- 
 bush plains, Deep ignorance unrivall d reigns. I am very 
 poetical, but excuse it. Si fama non venit ad aures, if you 
 have not heard the rumour of this story (which, by the by, 
 is told in various Taverns and eating houses), you must allow 
 me to be a little prolix with it. Those who employed me 
 were some gentlemen of New York ; some of them were 
 bullies, some merchants, and others Scoundrels. They sent 
 me Eight children, the eldest of whom was 10 years. Some 
 could read, others spell and a few stammer over a chapter 
 of the Bible. These were my pupils and over these was 
 I to preside. My Salary moreover was 40, there is 
 something else relating to that I shall not at present mention. 
 After I forsook them they proscribed me for four days and 
 swore that if I was caught in New York they would either 
 Trounce or maim me, but I luckily escaped with my goods 
 to Princetown, where I remained till commencement so 
 much for this affair. I have printed a poem in New York 
 called ct The American Village," containing about four hun 
 dred and fifty lines, also a few short pieces added; I would 
 send you one if I had a proper opportunity the additional 
 poems are : i. u A Poem to the Nymph I never saw," " The 
 Miserable Life of a Pedagogue," and Stanzas on " An ancient 
 Dutch House on Long Island." As to the main poem, it is 
 damned by all good and judicious Judges. My name is in the 
 
 [So] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 title page ; this is called vanity by some but " who so fond 
 as a youthful bard of fame ? " I arrived at this Sommerset 
 Academy the i8th of October and intend to remain here till 
 next October. I am assistant to M r . Brackenridge. This 
 is the last time I shall enter into such a business ; it worries 
 me to death and by no means suits my " giddy, wandering 
 brain." I would go over for the gown this time two years, 
 but the old hag necessity has got such a prodigious gripe 
 of me that I fear I shall never be able to accomplish it. I 
 believe if I cannot make this out I must turn quack and 
 indeed I am now reading Physic at my leisure hours, that is, 
 when I am neither sleeping, hearing classes, or writing 
 Poetry. For these three take up all my time. It is now 
 late at night; not an hour ago I finished a little poem of 
 about 400 lines, entitled a Journey to Maryland, being the 
 sum of my adventures. It begins : u From that fam d town 
 where Hudson s flood unites with streams perhaps as good, 
 Muse, has your bard begun to roam " & I intend to write 
 a terrible Satire upon certain vicious persons of quality in 
 N. Y. who have also used me ill and print it next fall; 
 it shall contain 5 or 600 Lines. Sometimes I write pastorals 
 to shew my Wit, 
 
 " Deep to the woods, I sing a Shepherd s care, 
 Deep to the woods, Cyllenius calls me there, 
 The last retreat of Love and Verse. I go. 
 Verse made me mad at first and will keep me so." 
 
 I should have been glad to have heard from you before now. 
 While I was at College I had but a short participation of your 
 agreeable friendship, and the few persons I converse with and 
 yet fewer whose conversation I delight in, make me regret 
 the Loss of it. I have met with a variety of rebuffs this year, 
 which I forbear to mention. I look like an unmeaning Teague 
 just turned out of the hold of an Irish ship. Coming down 
 hither I met with a rare adventure at Annapolis. I was desti 
 tute even of a brass farthing. I got clear very handsomely. 
 Could one expect even to see you again ? if I travel through 
 Virginia I shall stop and talk with you a day or two. I should 
 be very glad to receive a Letter from you if it can be con 
 veniently forwarded. In short, " Non sum qualis eram " 
 
 [d] [<?/] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 as Partridge says in Tom Jones. My hair is grown like a 
 mop and I have a huge tuft of Beard directly upon my chin. 
 I want but five weeks of twenty-one years of age, and already 
 feel stiff" with age. We have about 30 students in this 
 Academy, who prey upon me like Leaches. When shall 
 I quit this whimpering Jack, and hide my head in Acomack ? 
 Shall I leave them and go " Where Pokomoke s long stream 
 meandring flows " ? Excuse this prodigious Scrawl without 
 stile or verse. I send this by M T . Luther Martin, who will 
 forward it to Colonel Lee, and he to you, I hope. M T . Martin 
 lives in Acomack in Virginia, this side the bay. Farewell, 
 and be persuaded I remain your 
 
 truly humble Servt. and friend, 
 
 PH. F-R-E-N-E-A-U. 
 
 Finding in himself no signs of vocation to the 
 ministry, Philip took up the study of law, but after 
 a time he found it too dry for his poetic tempera 
 ment, and instead he occupied the time left from his 
 professional duties in writing for the press articles 
 of such a nature as to stir up love and enthusiasm 
 for liberty, and a detestation of Britain s galling yoke. 
 " He was the poet of hatred, and he carefully trained 
 himself for his function as a stern political satirist, by 
 studying the Roman and French masterpieces in 
 satire; he began his career at a fortunate moment 
 when just such a satirist was needed and when the 
 materials for such satire sincere, wrathful, Juvenalian 
 satire were furnished to him in abundance by the 
 conduct of the English government and its civil 
 and military representatives in America/ Upon 
 the breaking out of the war Philip returned to Phila 
 delphia and threw himself heart and soul into the 
 interests of his country, endeavoring by his pen to 
 throw off at once and forever the yoke of foreign 
 servitude. 
 
 The colonists were not desirous of severing all 
 
 1 Professor Tyler. 
 
 [* ] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 connection with the mother country, and were quite 
 willing to make any concessions to preserve their 
 former relations with it ; and therefore contented 
 themselves with merely endeavoring to maintain the 
 rights guaranteed them by their charters and ratified 
 by the Constitution. 
 
 They acted solely on the defensive, hoping to gain 
 redress for their grievances by another petition to the 
 Crown. 
 
 Philip was no conservative ; and, finding his coun 
 trymen too slow in making use of the golden oppor 
 tunity now offered of making themselves independent, 
 and fearing that further concessions from the Crown 
 might adjust the present difficulty, he determined 
 not to witness the total overthrow of all his cherished 
 hopes; he therefore accepted an invitation from a 
 West Indian gentleman by the name of Hanson, to 
 visit him in his island home. This gentleman owned 
 a large plantation in the island of Jamaica, and sailed 
 as master of his own ship. 
 
 During the passage the mate died : and Philip s 
 love of the sea led him to offer himself to fill his 
 place, and also to study navigation ; of which branch 
 of science he soon made himself a master. 
 
 While in Jamaica he recorded his detestation of 
 the cruelties of slavery in a poem addressed to Sir 
 Tobey, a planter on that island : 
 
 " If there exists a Hell the case is clear 
 Sir Tobey s slaves enjoy that portion here." 
 
 It is probable that if Philip ever made a second visit 
 to that island, Sir Tobey did not receive him as favor 
 ably as he did upon the first visit. 
 
 From Jamaica, Philip visited the Danish Island of 
 Santa Cruz, where his poetic nature revelled in the 
 natural beauties of the scenery, which he enjoyed to 
 the fullest extent. He loved to watch the great soft 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 waves folding themselves gently and noiselessly over 
 beaches of the whitest sand ; the brilliant water, now 
 sparkling like sapphire in the sunlight, and again 
 paling into the most delicate turquoise hue when 
 shadowed by a passing cloud ; the long sea-grasses 
 of crimson and amber waving to and fro in the 
 water, or tossed here and there when a slight breeze 
 ruffled its bosom ; the gauzy-winged fishes as they 
 skimmed over the waves, reflecting the colors of 
 the rainbow, 
 
 "Some streak d with burnish d gold, resplendent glare, 
 Some cleave the limpid deep, all silver d o er, 
 Some clad in living green, delight the eye, 
 Some red, some blue ; of mingled colors more." 
 
 He admired the vari-colored houses, of delicate tints 
 of pink, yellow, and blue, nestling in a rich setting of 
 different shades of green : 
 
 " Among the shades of yonder whispering grove 
 The green palmettoes mingle, tall and fair, 
 That ever murmur, and forever move 
 Fanning with wavy bough the ambient air. 
 
 " Sweet orange groves in lovely vallies rise, 
 And drop their fruits, unnotic d and unknown, 
 The cooling, acid limes in hedges grow, 
 The juicy lemons swell in shades their own." 1 
 
 He admired the plantain and banana trees with 
 their burdens of luscious fruit ; the crimson pome 
 granates and golden pawpaws of the valleys, behind 
 which towered the rugged peaks of the volcanic 
 ridge clothed with forests of the " guava s stripling 
 tree," the smooth white cedar, and the "bay tree 
 with its aromatic green," and crowned with the grace 
 ful waving palm. 
 
 1 The Beauties of Santa Cruz. 
 
 [*] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 " Such were the isles which happy Flaccus sung 
 Where one tree blossoms while another bears, 
 Where Spring, forever gay, and ever young, 
 Walks her gay round through her unwearied years." x 
 
 All this was very delightful to the poetic side 
 of Philip s nature ; but like all that is beautiful 
 on earth, it had its dark side in the detestable slavery 
 that " cast a shadow over all. c If you have tears 
 to shed, prepare to shed them now/ " he writes : 
 
 "A description of the cruelties the poor slaves endure 
 would be too irksome and unpleasant to me; and to those 
 who have not beheld it, would be incredible. Sufficient be 
 it to say, that no class of mankind in the known world 
 undergo so complete a servitude as the common negroes in 
 the West Indies. It casts a pall over the natural charms of 
 the country, it blots out the beauties of the eternal spring 
 which providence has there ordained to reign ; and amidst 
 all the profusion of bounties which nature has scattered 
 the brightness of the heaven, the mildness of the air, and the 
 luxuriancy of the vegetable kingdom it leaves me melan 
 choly and disconsolate, convinced that there is no pleasure 
 in this world without its share of pain. And thus the earth, 
 which, were it not for the lust of pride and dominion, might 
 be an earthly paradise, is, by the ambition and overbearing 
 nature of mankind rendered an eternal scene of desolation, 
 woe, and horror ; the weak goes to the wall, while the strong 
 prevails ; and after our ambitious frenzy has turned the world 
 upside down we are contented with a narrow spot, and leave 
 our follies and cruelties to be acted over again by every suc 
 ceeding generation." 
 
 It was during his sojourn upon this island that 
 he wrote his poems entitled, " The Beauties of Santa 
 Cruz," and the " House of Night." The latter poem 
 is a weird thing " founded upon the authority of 
 the Scripture, inasmuch as these sacred books assert, 
 
 1 The Beauties of Santa Cruz. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 that the last enemy that shall be conquered is Death" 
 Death is herein personified and represented on his 
 dying bed. This scene is in a solitary place, and the 
 time midnight. An amiable, majestic youth who has 
 but lately suffered from his aggression, Death having 
 carried off his beloved wife, with a noble fortitude and 
 humanity entertains him, although an enemy ; thus 
 carrying into practice the divine precept, "If thine 
 enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink." 
 The poem concludes with some reflection on the 
 impropriety of too great an attachment to this present 
 life, and incentives to such moral virtue as may assist 
 in conducting to a better one. 
 
 He describes it as a cc fearful vision at the midnight 
 hour/ 
 
 " Such was the dream the sage Chaldean saw 
 
 Disclosed to him that felt heav n s vengeful rod 
 Such was the ghost, who through deep silence cry d, 
 1 Shall mortal man be Juster than his God? " 
 
 The poem contains one hundred and thirty-six 
 stanzas, having been increased from the original seventy- 
 three. 
 
 The latter stanzas contain the moral, 
 
 " What is this Death, ye deep read sophists, say ? 
 
 Death is no more than one unceasing change ; 
 New forms arise, while other forms decay, 
 Yet all is Life throughout creation s range. 
 
 " The towering Alps, the haughty Appenine, 
 The Andes wrapped in everlasting snow, 
 The Appalachian and the Arrarat 
 Sooner or later must to ruin go. 
 
 " Hills sink to plains, and man returns to dust, 
 
 That dust supports a reptile or a flower ; 
 Each changeful atom by some other nurs d 
 Takes some new form, to perish in an hour. 
 
 [86] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 " Too nearly join d to sickness, toils and pains, 
 
 ( Perhaps for former crimes imprisoned here ) 
 True to itself the immortal soul remains, 
 
 And seeks new mansions in the starry sphere. 
 
 " When Nature bids thee from the world retire, 
 With Joy thy lodging leave, a fated guest, 
 In Paradise, the land of thy desire, 
 Existing always, always to be blest." 
 
 Both of these poems have been changed since 
 originally written in Santa Cruz, and they have been 
 lengthened considerably, the former being increased 
 from fifty-two to one hundred and nine stanzas, and 
 the latter, as we have already stated, from seventy-three 
 to one hundred and thirty-six stanzas. 
 
 Most of Freneau s poems have been greatly changed 
 in later editions of his works. He was given to review 
 ing, which exhibits the care he bestowed upon his pro 
 ductions; but which perhaps caused them to lose some 
 of their original bouquet, if we may use this word in 
 such connection. 
 
 It is doubtful if so much revision is beneficial to 
 such spontaneous productions as poetry is supposed 
 to be, and marked by more or less of inspira 
 tion. Revision usually being done in moments in 
 which that fire burns low, if at all, it would not 
 be surprising if the various parts of such a whole 
 would seem to be somewhat lacking in harmony of 
 sentiment. 
 
 In his " House of Night " Freneau has acknowl 
 edged thi3 fact, although he was not alluding to 
 reviewing : 
 
 " Stranger, believe the truth experience tells, 
 
 Poetic dreams are of a finer cast 
 Than those which o er the sober brain diffus d 
 Are but a repetition of some action past." 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Returning northward, Philip stopped at the Ber 
 mudas; and remained there some six months as a 
 guest of the governor. The reason of his prolonged 
 stay in these islands may be accounted for by the 
 numerous sonnets addressed to the fair Amanda, the 
 amiable daughter of his host. And while Philip sipped 
 the governor s wine and basked in the smiles of his fair 
 daughter, his first pure love, fair Liberty, lay bleeding 
 in the dust ; and the pen he had vowed to her service 
 was employed in depicting the charms of her rival. 
 
 [88} 
 
Chapter Sixth 
 
 WHILE Philip was still a collegian, and even 
 indeed a schoolboy, his cousin, John Morin 
 Scott, whom we have already mentioned, 
 was actively engaged in the affairs of the colony, and 
 had already formed ideas of its future freedom. Per 
 haps, indeed, it was from him that Philip drew some 
 of his enthusiasm on the subject, as, being considerably 
 his senior in years, Scott s opinions would have great 
 weight with his fatherless young cousin. 
 
 Morin Scott was in reality Philip s father s cousin, 
 their mothers, Mrs. Andre Freneau and Mrs. Scott, 
 being sisters. Both of these men were gifted with the 
 enthusiastic nature of their French parentage ; but 
 Morin Scott was not so easily carried away by his feel 
 ings as was his young cousin, whether it was from 
 the fact of his early education having been in less 
 exciting times, thus giving him time to learn self- 
 control before the soul-stirring events that imme 
 diately preceded the Revolution, or from his habits 
 of logical thought engendered by his steady appli 
 cation to his profession. It may have been partly due 
 to the mixture of Scotch blood in his veins, his 
 father being a descendant of the ancient Scotch barons 
 of Ancram. 1 
 
 Morin Scott s birth antedated Philip s some twenty- 
 two years ; he was graduated from Yale College in the 
 year 1746, and had finished his law course before Philip 
 was born. His marriage took place about the time of 
 his cousin s birth. Scott s wife was Helena, daughter 
 
 1 Miss Scott of Ancram, whose name appears amongst the British 
 poets, was a member of this family. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 of Peter Rutger and Elizabeth Williams, 1 the daughter 
 of a naval officer of the Port of New York; their 
 children were: Mary, born July 17, 1753; Louis 
 Allaire, afterwards Secretary of State, born February 
 n, 1754; John Morin, Jr., born May 9, 1755, and 
 baptized by the Reverend Aaron Burr 2 June 15, 1755 ; 
 and Peter Rutger born July 6, 1756. 
 
 Scott was a stanch whig in the ante-bellum days, 
 and was devoted to the interests of his country ; he 
 was considered one of the most eminent lawyers of 
 the time. We find his name in O Callaghan s " Docu 
 mentary History " as being retained by Jacob Daller, 
 who arrived in New York in the year 1765 and 
 invited himself into the pastorate of the French Church, 
 threatening the Consistory to carry the matter into 
 court if they did not receive him. Trouble ensuing, 
 Morin Scott and William Smith 3 were retained by the 
 aforesaid self-appointee, who was advised by them to 
 submit his difference with the church to arbitration. 
 The Consistory threatened the lawyers for the act and 
 asked for an interview, which was held in the room of 
 the Consistory. After a long and painful process of 
 litigation and personal antagonism Mr. Daller set out 
 for London the year following. 
 
 In 1754 we find Scott s name in the records of the 
 French church, of which he does not seem to have 
 been a member, as a witness, along with his cousin 
 Andre Freneau, Jr., to the marriage of their mutual 
 cousin Marie Allaire ; the marriage being held at the 
 house of the bride s parents. 
 
 As we have stated in a preceding chapter, Governor 
 Dongan, upon assuming the administration, had given 
 the colony its first Legislative Assembly ; which con- 
 
 1 This lady was step-daughter to Col. Fred. Philipse, the last proprie 
 tor of Philipse Manor of Philipseburgh. 
 
 2 Father to Aaron Burr the vice-president. 
 
 8 William Smith married a daughter of John Adams. 
 
 {90} 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 sisted of the governor, two counsellors, and represen 
 tatives chosen by the people to represent each ward, 
 who were elected annually. Scott had been for five 
 years, or from 1757 to 1762 successively, chosen to 
 represent the "Out-ward," which comprised Harlem 
 and all that district outside of the city s wall. 
 
 During the second attempt made by Parliament in 
 the year 1761 to enforce the Importation Act, the 
 colonial courts were authorized to issue Writs of 
 Assistance, or search-warrants, to constables to enable 
 them to effect an entrance into any locality in which 
 there was the slightest suspicion of goods that had 
 evaded the duty being concealed ; and such goods 
 were liable to be seized by those officers. William 
 Smith, William Livingston, and John Morin Scott, all 
 three eminent lawyers, protested through the public 
 print against these proceedings : they claimed that the 
 judiciary was not dependent upon the king ; and they 
 protested against the search warrants being issued, 
 denying the government the right of instituting the 
 search. 
 
 In Boston, James Otis denounced the Act as un 
 constitutional, and in a masterly address pleaded the 
 rights of the colonists, which produced a great 
 sensation throughout all the colonies ; and hints of 
 resistance even to arms were thrown out. 
 
 After the passage of the Stamp Act in the year 1765, 
 although it was not in itself oppressive, Scott publicly 
 resented its being carried into effect, as being illegal 
 and unconstitutional. He, as well as all patriots, 
 claimed that, as British subjects, the Constitution was 
 as dear to them as to all those born in England ; and it 
 provided against all forced loans by the Crown, which 
 was in reality taxation without representation. The 
 Act was carried into effect, however, and the colonists 
 divided themselves into two parties; the one uphold 
 ing the king and styled Tories, and the Whigs, who 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 deemed it but right to resent even to death all acts of 
 tyranny. The contest between these parties was full 
 of bitterness, and the members of one heaped abuse 
 on those of the other without mercy. The public 
 printers, Rivington on the one side, and Hugh Gaines 
 on the other, tried their utmost to fan the flames, which 
 spread in all directions. 
 
 The other colonies took up the matter, and finally 
 James Otis, Massachusetts* eloquent orator, suggested 
 that without leave of the king, each colony should 
 appoint delegates to meet in a congress to discuss the 
 affairs of the nation. To this proposition all the 
 colonies agreed ; the day set for it to convene was 
 October 7, 1765, and by common consent New York 
 City was chosen as the place in which it would be held. 
 Nine of the thirteen States were represented, and the 
 number of delegates was twenty-eight, John Morin 
 Scott representing New York. Timothy Ruggles was 
 elected president of the Congress, and two papers were 
 drawn up ; one of which was a Declaration of Rights, 
 and the other an Address to the King. The former 
 set forth that as English subjects the American 
 colonists could not and would not consent to be taxed 
 but by their own representatives. The paper to the 
 king was a humble petition for a more just and 
 humane course of action towards his loyal subjects in 
 America. Memorials were also addressed to the two 
 houses of Parliament. At the Congress it was decided 
 to abandon the use of all such goods as were imported 
 from England, and to stop all commerce between the 
 mother country and the colonies, until she should 
 desist from her illegal efforts to tax them. 
 
 A society was then formed called the " Sons of 
 Liberty ; " meetings were held during the summer 
 months, and sharp eyes watched all proceedings. The 
 paper at length arrived, no notice having been taken 
 of their petition ; therefore the first night after the 
 
 [92] 
 
T*he Poet of the Revolution 
 
 night rattle had gone his rounds, billets were hastily 
 posted on trees throughout the city which read 
 
 PRO PATRIA! 
 
 The first man that distributes or makes use of stamped 
 paper, let him take care of his house and effects. 
 
 VOX POPULI 1 
 
 James McEvers had been appointed stamp collector 
 for New York, but as he owned a handsome residence 
 near Hanover Square, he thought it wiser to resign 
 his office than his house ; and no one being found to 
 fill his vacated position, the paper found no "local 
 habitation " and was relegated to the fort. 
 
 The Sons of Liberty held their meetings at what was 
 then known as the Fields, now City Hall Park ; and 
 here platforms were erected, and the population met to 
 listen to the exhortations of the tribunes, amongst 
 whom were Oliver Delancy, John Jay, Alexander 
 McDougall, Isaac Sears, Robert and Philip Livingston, 
 John Morin Scott, John Lamb, Peter Curtentius, 
 Alexander Hamilton, and others. On the opposite 
 side were Cadwallader Golden, Thomas Gage, Revs. 
 Myles Cooper and Auchmuchty, Samuel Bayard, 
 S. H. Cruger, D. Harsmonden, and others. 
 
 The thirty-first of October, the day the governor was 
 to take the oath to carry the Act into effect, was kept 
 as a day of public mourning ; and in the evening two 
 hundred leading merchants met in the City Arms 
 Coffee House, and passed a resolution to import no 
 more goods from England until the Act was repealed. 
 The following day a meeting was held in the Fields, 
 after which the Sons of Liberty marched to the fort 
 and gave the governor s house, in which the paper was 
 stored, a house-warming. 
 
 The Act was repealed, and the following June, upon 
 1 Todd. 
 
 [93] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 the king s birthday, his loyal sons set up a liberty 
 pole to commemorate the joyful event and also his 
 great clemency in repealing the Act ; but some way the 
 soldiers did not see it quite in this light and they 
 pulled it down. Again and again it was raised, and 
 again and again it was levelled ; until, to save time in 
 future, the " Sons " braced it with iron to the height 
 of seventy-three feet from the ground, and after that 
 it was " let live." 
 
 When the news of Boston s tea party reached New 
 York, the " Sons " met together and formed a resolu 
 tion that no tea should land at the wharves of the city. 
 The mayor tried to induce them to allow it to land 
 and remain until it could be placed, but they decidedly 
 refused it hospitality, not allowing it to remain for 
 even one night in the fort, after which the meeting 
 adjourned until the tea should arrive. 
 
 After a long delay the " Nancy," J that was supposed 
 to have the tea, hove in sight in a most pitiable condi 
 tion : one mast was gone, an anchor had been lost, and 
 she had met with various other mishaps. But the 
 hearts of the " Sons " were not touched by her plight : 
 they bade her remain at the length of the harbor, 
 and a committee was appointed to watch her until she 
 should be sufficiently repaired to make a return trip 
 with her tea. The sailors were not allowed to land, 
 lest they might not be ready when wanted ; but her 
 captain was escorted to the city and advised to make 
 preparations for an early return, but was forbidden 
 to enter the Custom House. 
 
 As soon as the " Nancy " was ready, the Com 
 mittee of Safety, of which Morin Scott was a member, 
 waited upon the captain at his lodgings, and a pro 
 cession was formed to escort him to the sloop that 
 was to bear him to his " Nancy/ and he marched to 
 the sound of martial music and the ringing of bells. 
 
 1 The tea in reality was in another ship. 
 
 [94] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 It was a veritable sight for the American small boy. 
 Every ship in the harbor ran up its colors, and the 
 liberty pole was graced with bunting; and with the 
 roar of artillery the captain sailed away, and he and 
 his " Nancy " were heard of no more. 
 
 About noon of Sunday, the twenty-third of April 
 in the year 1775, four days after the Battle of Lex 
 ington, Scott, along with other members of the Com 
 mittee of Safety, were assembled in the committee 
 room on Broadway, when a rider hastily drew up 
 and, dismounting, handed them a paper. It was to ap 
 prise them of the fact of the mother country having 
 been the first to shed the blood of her children, and 
 that all that was left for them was to defend themselves ; 
 therefore the Massachusetts Committee of Safety had 
 resolved to enlist eight thousand men. After reading 
 it the Committee endorsed it, and the rider started 
 on his way southward. 
 
 The news was speedily made public, and there was 
 a popular outbreak in the city. The keys of the 
 arsenal were not to be found, but the door was forced 
 open by the excited populace, and six hundred mus 
 kets and accoutrements were distributed amongst the 
 citizens. The fort and magazines were seized and the 
 citizens assumed the government of the city. They 
 proceeded at once to elect a committee of one hun 
 dred of the most influential inhabitants, to take charge 
 of the government ; amongst these was Scott. It was 
 called the " Committee of One Hundred." 
 
 The soldiery had been ordered to Boston to rein 
 force Gage, and the Committee permitted them to 
 depart. They marched to the wharf at the foot of 
 Broad Street, where lay the " Asia " ready to receive 
 them. Six carts laden with arms and ammunition 
 preceded them. At the foot of the street a member 
 of the " One Hundred " stepped forward and said that 
 the Committee requested them to leave the arms and 
 
 [95\ 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 ammunition behind, as they belonged to the colony 
 and could not be taken out of it ; then taking the 
 bridle of the first horse he turned it off towards 
 Beaver Street, and the other five followed. The 
 soldiers were permitted to embark. 
 
 During the remainder of seventy-five and until the 
 spring of seventy-six the state of affairs was sad 
 enough. In a letter written by Morin Scott, dated 
 November fifteenth, seventy-five, he describes the 
 general feeling. He says : 
 
 " Every office shut up almost but Sam Jones , who will 
 work for six a day and live accordingly. All business stag 
 nated ; the city half deserted for fear of a bombardment. A 
 new Congress elected. Those for New York you will see 
 by the papers, changed for the better. All staunch Whigs 
 now. . . . Nothing from t other side of the water but a fear 
 ful looking for of wrath. Our Continental petition most prob 
 ably condemned the bulk of the nation, it is said are 
 against us and a bloody campaign next summer. But let us 
 be prepared for the worst. Who can prize life without 
 liberty ! it is a bauble only fit to be thrown away." 
 
 The spring and summer of seventy-six were spent 
 in equipping and drilling the hastily formed troops 
 and in fortifying the city. On the ninth of May the 
 Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, in which a 
 last appeal was made to the king; and he was informed 
 that the colonists had chosen war instead of slavery. 
 John Adams, in an address to the assembled patriots, 
 spoke of the necessity of having a commander for the 
 army, and proposed George Washington as Comman- 
 der-in-Chief of the American army. Congress con 
 firmed the nomination on the fifteenth of June, and 
 Washington at once repaired to New York and met 
 the new Provincial Congress, of which Scott was a 
 member, and which was then sitting in the city. 
 The Continental Congress had put the quota for New 
 
 [96] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 York at three thousand men, and the new commander 
 conferred with the New York Congress upon their 
 equipment and officering, also upon other military 
 matters. 
 
 Four regiments were immediately raised, and Scott s 
 old companion tribune, and also fellow-member of the 
 Committee of One Hundred, Alexander McDougall, 
 was appointed to command one. Another old fellow- 
 tribune, John Lamb, was ordered by the Provincial 
 Congress to remove some of the guns from Fort 
 George to the passes by the Hudson. While fulfilling 
 the order on the night of August twenty-third, a launch 
 belonging to the " Asia," a British ship, fired upon his 
 men. Lamb returned fire, and killed one man and 
 wounded several other men ; the " Asia " then opened a 
 broadside into the city, and some of Lamb s men were 
 wounded, and most of the inhabitants fled. The Com 
 mittee of One Hundred ordered that as the ship had 
 fired upon New York she should have no more com 
 munication with it, and that in future all communica 
 tions should be with Governor s Island. 
 
 After the British had evacuated Boston and Wash 
 ington had formally taken possession, the latter 
 brought his army to New York, where he was met by 
 Lee with his Connecticut forces, who had come just 
 in time to baffle the plans of Sir Henry Clinton, who 
 had arrived off Sandy Hook for a descent upon the 
 city, but instead sailed southward. 
 
 The mother country now levied twenty-five thou 
 sand English troops and seventeen thousand Hessians, 
 and ordered an immense squadron to attempt the re 
 duction of her colonies ; and they, seeing no more 
 hope of an amicable settlement, urged their general 
 assemblies to take some definite step toward their 
 independence of Great Britain. Morin Scott, being a 
 member of assembly, met with the other members in 
 council, and they urged Congress to declare formally 
 
 [7] [97] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 the independence of the United Colonies. Congress 
 responded by recommending the different colonies to 
 adopt such government as might best conduce to the 
 safety and welfare of the people ; and the result, after 
 much deliberation, was the Declaration of Independ 
 ence, which was adopted by Congress July fourth, 
 seventy-six. 
 
 On the ninth of the month, at six o clock in the 
 evening, the troops assembled in the Fields, and 
 formed in a hollow square at the lower end, the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief on horseback being in the centre, 
 and the Declaration of Independence was read aloud 
 by one of his aids. At the conclusion three hearty 
 cheers were given. The following morning it was 
 read at White Plains, and after it the Provincial 
 Congress pledged themselves to " sustain it at the risk 
 of their lives and fortunes." The Provincial Congress 
 then despatched a messenger to their delegates in the 
 Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, em 
 powering them to vote in the name of the New York 
 colony for its adoption, and ordered it to be proclaimed 
 in the city of New York by beat of drum, and to be 
 read publicly from the City Hall in Wall Street. 
 
 All efforts were now directed to preparing for war. 
 Scott was appointed to assist in sustaining Washington, 
 with the rank of brigadier-general, and was appointed to 
 hold and fortify Long Island. Powerful works were 
 constructed on Brooklyn Heights to command New 
 York, this point being the key of the whole position. 
 The army was divided into five divisions under Gen 
 erals Putnam, Sullivan, Greene, Knox, and Stirling. 
 Aaron Burr, then aged twenty years, was on Putnam s 
 staff, and Alexander Hamilton, a youth of nineteen, 
 held the position of captain of battery. 
 
 I find by comparison of dates that Morin Scott held 
 several positions at the same time, one overlapping two 
 or more others ; but as I have the facts from public 
 
 {9*} 
 

 
 The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 records, it may be accounted for in this way: "It is 
 common," a writer 1 has said in speaking of the times, 
 " to see several offices in the hands of a single person 
 who perhaps was a colonel, a judge of probate, jus 
 tice of the peace, member of the legislature," etc. 
 
 The British had now concentrated their forces, 
 amounting to thirty thousand men, nearly half of 
 whom were Hessians, in the vicinity of New York. 
 Washington s army was greatly inferior to them in 
 numbers as well as in equipment and discipline. 
 
 On the twenty-second of August ten thousand 
 British troops landed on Long Island under Howe, 
 Tryon, Clinton, and Cornwallis. The American army, 
 being only eight thousand strong, was posted around 
 Brooklyn. On the twenty-seventh of August Gen 
 eral Grant s division of the British army proceeded as 
 far as Greenwood Cemetery, where General Stirling 
 met him with fifteen hundred men, and hostilities 
 commenced, with no decisive result. General Heister, 
 in command of the British centre, advanced beyond 
 Flatbush and engaged the main body of the Ameri 
 cans under Sullivan ; but they gained little until the 
 latter was made aware that a battle was going on at 
 his left. 
 
 Along the length of the island extended a ridge 
 over which no army could pass except at the regular 
 passes of Flatbush and Jamaica, and at these points 
 videttes had been stationed to give warning of any 
 attempt on the part of the British to cross. Putnam, 
 towards the north, held the fortified camps. Howe, 
 by some strategy, induced the young officers appointed 
 to guard the Flatbush pass to advance to meet him ; 
 when a portion of his army making a detour captured 
 the pass, and only waited for the morning to fold 
 around our army. Sullivan s division had been liter 
 ally cut to pieces. Nothing was now left for the 
 
 i Henry W. Frost. 
 
 [99] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 patriots but to yield the position ; and Washington, 
 with his wonderful tact, that caused his retreats to rank, 
 next to victories, collected all the boats possible. A 
 motley assembly, surely, and I doubt if ever such a 
 fleet was seen before ; sloops, schooners, whale-boats, 
 periaugers, and rowing-galleys worked all night, and 
 morning gave to the enemy only a few worthless guns. 
 Sullivan, Stirling, and Woodhull, with nearly one 
 thousand patriots, were missing from the day s battle. 
 The English hastily crossed in pursuit, and the patri 
 ots tried to escape across the island, having landed at 
 different points in New York. Scott s brigade crossed 
 at Fifteenth Street, and making a detour of the city 
 reached Harlem Plains, where he met the other strag 
 glers. Too -much praise cannot be awarded to Mrs. 
 Murray, 1 whose large farm-house stood at the junction 
 of the present Thirty-fourth Street and Lexington 
 Avenue, then a large farm. Here by her tact she 
 entertained Howe s men with her good cheer, and him 
 self and officers by her gracious hospitality, till the 
 Americans had crossed the island and were safely in 
 trenched on Harlem Heights. 
 
 The American army was now obliged to leave New 
 York, and Washington wrote to Governor Turnbull 
 that the Provincial Congress had resolved not to in 
 jure the city ; but a fire broke out, no one knew how 
 it originated, and the greater part of the city was de 
 stroyed. This fire consumed the Huguenot church. 
 
 In this year Captain Nathan Hale was arrested by 
 the British, who now held the city, and was executed 
 in the orchard belonging to the family of Scott s wife, 
 Helena Rutger. It took place on what is now East 
 Broadway, a little above Franklin Square. 
 
 On the fourth of June, 1777, the New York con 
 vention met at Windsor ; and the inhabitants of the 
 grant known as New Connecticut elected some depu- 
 
 1 Mother of Lindley Murray, the grammarian. 
 
 [TOO] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 ties to " sitt " at the said convention, at which it was 
 declared that the grant should thenceforth be known 
 as an independent State, and be called Vermont. A 
 certain Williams, writing to the Secretary of the New 
 York convention, mentions the affair, and says in re 
 gard to the pending election for Governor : 
 
 I believe we have been pretty unanimous in the Election 
 for governor and Lieutenant Governor, to witt, Genj Morin 
 Scott & Clinton * but there were very few that voted. The 
 Lott number 68 inArgyle belonging to Gen| Scott, I must 
 beg you 11 procure for me in behalf of Cap" Martin, I m 
 informed som other people are after it. However I am of 
 opinion Gen 1 Scott will not Lett any one have it without 
 giving Cap* Martin the refusal. 
 
 I am dear Sir your very Hum 1 Serv* 
 
 JOHN WiLLiAMS. 2 
 
 Morin Scott s name appears in the State Senate 
 from the year 1777 to 1782; as a member of Con 
 gress from the year 1779 to I 7^i ; as member of 
 the Continental Congress, 1782-1783 ; as Secretary 
 of State of New York from 1778 to 1789; and as 
 member of Congress, 1780-1783. 
 
 After the battle of White Plains the Americans 
 were driven from position after position, and finally 
 through the Jerseys to Princeton, Trenton, and into 
 Pennsylvania. Then came the battle of Princeton, 
 after which the greater part of New Jersey was re 
 covered by the patriots. War was raging all around 
 the old homestead, and while our modern Telemachus 
 was enjoying his life of dolce far niente in the isles 
 of the Atlantic, the courageous Penelope was guard 
 ing the lares and penates of her hearthstone. 
 
 On the twenty-third of July Howe sailed from New 
 
 1 Clinton was nominee for Governor and Scott for Lieutenant-Gover- 
 nor, although from the letter it would appear <vice versa. 
 
 2 Doc. Hist. 
 
 [101} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 York to attack Philadelphia, then the seat of the Con 
 tinental Congress, and succeeded in reducing it by the 
 twenty-sixth of September. Then came the defeat of 
 Germantown and the long and dreary winter at Valley 
 Forge, and at the close of 1777 the patriot cause 
 was nearly ended. Then came the treaty with France, 
 and D Estaing s fleet approached the capital, and on 
 the eighteenth of June, 1778, Howe s army evacuated 
 Philadelphia and retreated across New Jersey. At 
 Monmouth the British were overtaken. 
 
 Sunday the twenty-eighth was an intensely hot day. 
 Clinton was moving cautiously and Knyphausen was 
 hastening forward on the Middletown road; the left 
 wing, following, had passed a mile or more beyond the 
 Court House. On the north, outflanking the British, 
 were the American columns. Lee advanced from 
 the old Monmouth church by the main road, crossing 
 two deep ravines upon causeways ; his left wing was 
 folding around Cornwallis on the north, occupying 
 superior ground ; his centre, under Wayne, was close 
 behind; and his right wing, under Lafayette, was 
 already past the Court House, threatening the other 
 end of the British lines, whose position was one 
 of extreme danger, and there was every prospect of 
 a glorious victory for the American army. Wayne 
 had just begun a vigorous attack, but a halt was 
 ordered by Lee. The British troops came down the 
 road to separate Wayne and Lafayette; but it was 
 an easy matter to check them, and the Marquis 
 started to do so, but a halt was again ordered by 
 Lee, who commanded, instead, a retreat across a 
 marshy ravine. On the verge of a victory they were 
 compelled to flee, but from what no one knew ; and 
 bitter disappointment took the place of their exultant 
 ardor of the morning. The enemy began to pursue 
 them, and as they crowded over the causeway the 
 ranks began to fall into disorder and many sank 
 
 [102] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 exhausted by the heat, and some were slain by the 
 enemy. The Marquis ordered an aid to seek the 
 Commander-in-Chief and report the strange conduct 
 of Lee. The soldier met him just where the road 
 forks not far from the old Monmouth church and 
 delivered his message. Washington hastily sprang 
 to his horse and soon found himself in the midst 
 of the disorder. A halt was ordered, and the retreat 
 ing soldiers immediately wheeled and formed under 
 the firing with as much calmness and precision as 
 they could have shown on parade. And while they 
 stopped the evening s progress Washington rode back 
 and brought up the main body of his army, Greene 
 with his battery from the heights, and Wayne from 
 the front ; and the British were driven back upon 
 the second ravine which Lee had crossed in the 
 morning s advance. The gallant Steuben brought 
 up from the rear, and night fell. Morning found 
 the British troops withdrawn, and America claimed 
 a victory. Lord Stanhope saw a drawn battle. 1 
 
 This battle of Monmouth was partly fought on 
 the land which fell to Philip s wife as her portion, 
 and on which they resided after the flames had de 
 stroyed their residence at Mount Pleasant, from which 
 the battle could be easily heard at the time, and in 
 which were assembled his mother and her little family 
 all but Philip. 
 
 1 Gen. John Morin Scott took part in this battle, also Gen. David 
 Forman. 
 
Chapter Seventh 
 
 NEWS travelled slowly in the days of our an 
 cestors, and for several reasons that of the 
 Declaration of Independence was delayed 
 in reaching Philip. First, the distance was great, the 
 nearest point of land being Cape Hatteras, some six 
 hundred and fifty miles distant ; but on account of the 
 war between Great Britain, to whom the Bermudas 
 belonged, and the colonies, no American ship landed 
 in her ports, and the trading vessels were few and far 
 between. When at last the word, so delightful to 
 Philip s ears, reached him, that the colonies had really 
 declared themselves free, he quickly roused himself 
 from the poetic languor that had taken possession of 
 him, and embraced the first opportunity that presented 
 of returning to his native land. The voyage was 
 roundabout, and consumed considerable time; conse 
 quently he did not reach home until after the battle 
 that had been fought so close to his doors. 
 
 The fate of the " amiable Amanda " we have never 
 learned. Whether, like Sappho, she took a fatal leap 
 from the heights of one of the Bermuda peaks, or, 
 like a sensible woman of the eighteenth century, bade 
 her poet good-bye, with a promise to remember him 
 in her orisons, is unknown ; and, as Philip s sonnets 
 ceased to flow, her fate is buried in oblivion. 
 
 Upon arriving in his native land Philip probably 
 paid his respects to his mother. It is most likely, and 
 then he buckled on his sword in his country s cause. 
 This phrase is certainly figurative, for Philip could 
 never buckle himself into anything that looked like 
 a harness ; but he did what lay in his power, he 
 
 [104] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 took out letters of marque and reprisal from the 
 Continental Congress, and sailed far out on the deep 
 blue sea to catch all the British ships he could find. 
 We learn from the public print that he played sad 
 havoc with the English merchantmen, capturing and 
 destroying many. 
 
 But after a time poor Philip came to grief, and the 
 way it happened runneth thus. 
 
 Whether he had purchased the ship he commanded 
 or only used it for the time being we know not, but 
 we do know that he had one building in the Philadel 
 phia yards, which was his own, his very own the 
 dream of his life. Philadelphia was famous in those 
 days for her shipbuilding capabilities ; her harbor 
 favoring it, she could easily bring from the Southern 
 and New England States the best of woods for the 
 purpose ; and we are told that at one time might be 
 seen some twenty ships in her stocks in progress of 
 construction. Those she turned out were swift sailers, 
 highly finished, and even considerably ornamented; 
 so much so, indeed, that her figure-heads were praised 
 by foreign artists. In fact the colonies had developed 
 such talent in naval architecture that many of the Eng 
 lish trading vessels were built in their yards. 1 
 
 Although Philip s description of the building of his 
 ship may not equal that of Schiller s, it may bear 
 criticism : 
 
 u Assist me, Clio ! while in verse I tell 
 The dire misfortunes that a ship befell, 
 Which outward bound, to St. Eustatia s shore, 
 Death and disaster through the billows bore. 
 From Philadelphia s happy port she came ; 
 (And there the builder plann d her lofty frame,) 
 With wonderous skill, and excellence of art 
 He form d, disposed and order d every part, 
 With joy, beheld the stately fabric rise 
 
 1 Mr. Eggleston, in The Century Magazine. 
 
 [. 05 ] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 To a stout bulwark, of stupendous size, 
 Till launched at last, capacious of the freight, 
 He left her to the pilots, and her fate. 
 First, from her depths the tapering masts ascend, 
 On whose tall bulk the transverse yards depend, 
 By shrouds and stays secur d from side to side 
 Trees grew on trees, suspended o er the tide : 
 Firm to the yards extended, broad and vast, 
 They hung the sails, susceptive of the blast, 
 Far o er the prow the lengthy bowsprit lay, 
 Supporting on the extreme the taut fore-stay, 
 Twice ten six pounder, at their port holes plac d, 
 And rang d in rows, stood hostile in the waist : 
 Thus all prepar d, impatient for the seas, 
 She left her station with an adverse breeze, 
 This her first outset from her native shore, 
 To seas a stranger, and untry d before." 
 
 The ship finished, Philip named her " The Au 
 rora," and on her broad prow she carried for a figure 
 head the rising sun, so brightly gilded as, quoting his 
 words, to " throw over the water a mimic blaze." 
 Poor sun, destined to set before it ran its course ! 
 
 Delaware Bay, although admitting the largest vessels 
 to its head, and even into the river beyond, had a very 
 tortuous and intricate channel, occasioned by the nu 
 merous shoals formed by long, narrow sandbanks 
 stretching northwest and southeast, which nearly filled 
 the central portion. It was therefore something of a feat 
 to guide a good-sized vessel through it and round the 
 cape, the shelving ground around the latter causing 
 it to be fatal to those unacquainted with its peculiarities. 
 It was renowned for shipwrecks ; so much so that 
 captains felt greatly relieved when they had safely left 
 it behind them. 
 
 On the 2fth of May the " Aurora," " daughter ot 
 the sun," with all sails spread to catch the breeze, which 
 at starting was adverse, passed gaily down the river, and 
 
 {106} 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 through the sixty miles of Delaware Bay, and waited for 
 morning to round the point called by the old Swede 
 settlers the " Point of Paradise," by the more prosaic 
 modern Americans, Cape Henlopen. During her prog 
 ress down the bay an event occurred which was con 
 sidered by the crew a prognostic of future success, but 
 which was, in reality, the cause of the " Aurora s " dis 
 aster. Overtaking a small sloop belonging to the 
 enemy and laden with corn, the details incident to its 
 capture prevented the " Aurora " from rounding the 
 point the same evening, and thus caused the delay so 
 fatal to her. 
 
 The morning was beautiful ; and, assisted by a 
 favorable breeze, the cape was successfully passed, and 
 the " Aurora " made her debut on the broad ocean, 
 where " a sea unruffled and a sky serene " awaited her- 
 All seemed propitious ; and spreading the sails, her 
 prow was turned eastward, then to the southeast. 
 
 The sun crossed the meridian, and a gale springing 
 up it bore the light-hearted master and crew out of the 
 sight of the misty line of hilltops, which seemed to sink 
 beneath the waves. Toward afternoon, a seaman was 
 ordered to go aloft, to see peradventure if any prey, in 
 the form of an English merchantman, might be in 
 sight. 
 
 The tar returned and reported a ship approaching 
 very rapidly from the east; which soon became visible 
 to all. The master used his glass, and from her top 
 gallant spied the English Jack ; and soon after he rec 
 ognized her to be the " Iris," once the " Hancock," one 
 of the swiftest ships on the American station, and one 
 that had made the fortunes of every one that had ever 
 commanded her save the last; 1 he had lost her in con 
 sequence of having put her out of trim, by starting her 
 water while chased by the " Rainbow," commanded by 
 Sir George Collier, who finally captured her. 
 
 1 Captain Manly. 
 
 [so?] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 u Her lofty masts stood bending to the gale, 
 Close to the wind was brac d each shivering sail j 
 Her spangled bottom seem d in flames to glow. 
 
 With all her might she strove to gain our tack, 
 
 Nor strove in vain with pride and power elate, 
 
 Wing d on by winds, she drove us to our fate. 
 
 No stop, no stay her bloody crew intends. 
 
 So flies a comet with its host of fiends, 
 
 Nor oaths, nor prayers arrest her swift career, 
 
 Death in her front, and ruin in her rear." 
 
 Knowing the futility of attempting to hold their own 
 against such odds, the vessel carrying guns double 
 the size of theirs, the officer gave orders to change 
 the course of the " Aurora " and steer for the land, their 
 only safety lying in flight. 
 
 u Struck at the sight, the master gave command 
 To change our course, and steer toward the land 
 Straight to the task the ready sailors run, 
 And while the word was utter d, half was done ; 
 As, from the south, the fiercer breezes rise 
 Swift from her foe alarm d Aurora flies, 
 With every sail extended to the wind 
 She fled the unequal foe that chas d behind. 
 Along her decks, disposed in close array, 
 Each at its port, the grim artillery lay, 
 Soon on the foe with brazen throat to roar ; 
 But, small their size, and narrow was their bore ; 
 Yet, faithful, they their destin d station keep 
 To guard the barque that wafts them o er the deep, 
 Who now must bend to steer a homeward course 
 And trust her swiftness rather than her force, 
 Unfit to combat with a powerful foe, 
 Her decks too open and her waist too low." 
 
 Land appears, most welcome sight ! The Point of 
 Paradise looms up before them ; but near and nearer 
 presses on the foe, intent upon the "Aurora s" 
 
 [**] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 ruin. Listen to the boatswain s prayer it, like 
 most such prayers, fell back upon the head of its 
 maker : 
 
 u List, all ye powers that rule the skies and seas ! 
 Shower down perdition on such thieves as these, 
 Winds, daunt their hearts with terror and dismay, 
 And sprinkle on their powder salt sea spray! 
 May bursting cannon, while his aim he tries, 
 Distract the gunner, and confound his eyes . 
 May they who rule the round-top s giddy height 
 Be canted headlong to perpetual night ; 
 May fiends torment them on a leeward coast, 
 And help forsake them when they want it most." 
 
 Freneau, in his poem entitled " The Prison Ship, * 
 from which we have been quoting, beautifully com 
 pares the flight of the " Aurora," and the pursuit of the 
 " Iris," to the flight of Hector pursued by Achilles 
 round the walls of Troy : 
 
 " The Frigate, now, had every sail unfurl d, 
 And rush d tremendous o er the watery world ; 
 Thus fierce Pelides, eager to destroy, 
 Chas d the proud Trojan to the gates of Troy 
 Swift o er the wave while, hostile, they pursue, 
 As swiftly from their fangs Aurora flew." 
 
 The Point of Paradise gained, all efforts to take the 
 ill-fated vessel ashore were vain ; a sudden calm caused 
 the sails to droop. Meanwhile the foe had advanced 
 within range of shot, and pointed her guns. 
 
 " Rang d her black cannon, pointed on our lee, 
 Then up she luff d, and blaz d her entrails dire, 
 Bearing destruction, terror, death and fire. 
 Vext at our fate, we prim d a piece, and then 
 Return d the shot, to show them we were men." 
 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Night fell ; even the shoals in this sad extremity 
 would have been a welcome risk, but 
 
 u Fate stood between, and barr d us from the land." 
 
 Already becalmed and helpless, the ebbing current 
 bore the doomed " Aurora " into the power of her 
 enemy, who 
 
 " Flash d her red lightnings o er the trembling flood." 
 At every flash untold mischief ensued, and 
 
 " Mad for revenge, our breasts with fury glow 
 To wreak returns of vengeance on the foe ; 
 Full at his hull our pointed guns we rais d, 
 His hull resounded as the cannon blaz d ; 
 Through his broad sails while some a passage tore, 
 His sides re-echo d to the dreadful roar, 
 Alternate fires dispell d the shades of night 
 But how unequal was this daring fight! " 
 
 While shouting defiance to the foe, Laboyteaux, the 
 captain of the marines, fell staining the deck with his 
 heart s blood. Another blast tore the shrouds, stays, 
 and braces away ; while through the air flew the frag 
 ments of sails, blocks, and oars, and the" Aurora" shook 
 from stem to stern. The elements seemed to vie with 
 each other in working the doom of the ill-fated vessel ; 
 earth receded from her grasp ; and the wind, rising, 
 filled the sails of the " Iris " and blew it close and closer 
 upon her prey ; the fire tore open her sides, into whose 
 wounds the water gurgled to complete the work of 
 destruction ; and slowly the doomed vessel began to 
 sink, and there was naught left but to submit or die. 
 
 " Twas then the Master trembled for his crew, 
 And bade thy shores, O Delaware, adieu ! 
 And must we yield to yon destructive ball, 
 And must our colors to these ruffians fall ! 
 
 [w] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 They fall ! his thunders forc d our strength to bend, 
 The lofty topsails with their yards descend, 
 And the proud foe, such leagues of ocean passM, 
 His wish completed in our woe at last." 
 
 According to Freneau s log-book it would seem 
 that on this voyage he was merely a passenger, and 
 bore no active part in the ship s management. As 
 this account has been given to the public by Mr. 
 Weymer Jay Mills * great-grandnephew of Agnes Fre 
 neau s husband, we give the account of the capture as 
 found in Freneau s poem, " The Prison Ship." In 
 the log-book Freneau states that when first pursued by 
 the cc Iris" his advice to the officers had been to stand 
 for Egg Harbor or any part of the Jersey shore, and 
 to run the ship upon the flats rather than allow it to 
 be taken. Why his advice was not followed, or why he 
 was only a passenger on his own ship, it does not appear. 
 
 Let the reader imagine for himself the sentiments 
 with which the freedom-loving Freneau passed from 
 the deck of the " Aurora" to that of the victor, and 
 those with which he watched the waters closing over 
 the wreckage of his ship, for that which was left of 
 her was but the ghost of her former self, until the 
 darkness covered all things with its pall. 
 
 Owners of fair ships have expressed their love for 
 them as greater far than for anything on land ; and the 
 C Aurora " was his very own, the creation of his love, 
 which he had dreamed of day by day as she grew into 
 her fair proportions ; whose birth he had sung, and to 
 whom finally he had confided his life and fortunes. 
 Too late he regretted, for his own part, that he had not 
 chosen death when it could honorably have been 
 courted. 
 
 In passing through the lower bay in his transfer to 
 New York, Freneau gazed across the waters and de- 
 
 1 Revolutionary Americana, published by Wessels & Co. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 scried in the distance the crest of the old hill from 
 whose heights, as a child, he had so oftentimes 
 watched the white-sailed vessels flitting to and fro, 
 and longed so ardently to be in one of them ; and was 
 it thus his desires had been fulfilled ? In one he was in 
 deed ; but the shackles of the captive were weighing on 
 his hands and feet, and these he had not longed for. 
 
 Arrived at the port of New York, then in the hands 
 of the British, he was condemned to breathe the foul, 
 infected air of the sickly hulks which Were moored 
 within sight of the very residence in which, in former 
 years, his ancestor had resided, and in which his 
 father had been born. Imagine all this and then 
 blame him if you can for that spirit of acrimony that 
 many perhaps have wondered at, thinking it far ex 
 ceeded its cause. 
 
 An exile from the land of his fathers through the 
 merciless tyranny of one monarch, and in fetters by 
 that of another, is it to be wondered at that in after 
 years he fought so strenuously against all tendency to 
 a monarchical form of government, or the least thing 
 that savored of it? 
 
 The "Scorpion/ the hulk in which he was confined, 
 was one of the old transport vessels in which the 
 British troops had been brought to the city. It 
 was moored at first off the Battery, along with the 
 "Jersey," a sixty-four-gun ship formerly employed as 
 a store ship, the " Hunter," and others, and after 
 wards taken to Wallabout Bay, on the Long Island 
 shore. These vessels were all unseaworthy and had 
 been dismantled. 
 
 " No masts or sails these crowded ships adorn, 
 Dismal to view, neglected and forlorn. 
 
 From morn to eve along the decks we lay 
 Scorch d into fevers by the solar ray ; 
 [II 2} 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 No friendly awning cast a welcome shade, 
 Once it was promised, and was never made ; 
 No favours could these sons of death bestow, 
 T was endless vengeance, and unceasing woe." 
 
 As Freneau has described the treatment of the 
 captives on the prison ships in the poem mentioned 
 above, we will quote a few portions of it relative to 
 his sufferings while on board the "Scorpion," and the 
 " Hunter," the hospital ship, to which he was after 
 wards taken. It is an admitted fact that the sailors 
 captured by the British during the war suffered 
 even more than the soldiers who fell into their 
 hands, if such a thing were possible. They were 
 crowded together so closely, and their accommodations 
 were so wretched, that diseases broke out and swept 
 them off in such numbers as to arouse compassion 
 in hearts the least sensible to woe. 1 
 
 It has been asserted that, as near as could be esti 
 mated, in the last six years of the war more than 
 eleven thousand captives died on board the " Jersey " 
 alone. Besides the three ships already mentioned, 
 there were the " Provost," the " Strombolo," and the 
 " Good Hope." The prisoners on the latter set fire to 
 it, hoping to gain their freedom in that way, preferring 
 to meet a speedy death in the dark waters rather 
 than a lingering one in its hold ; but the chief incen 
 diaries were removed to the " Provost," and the others 
 to the "Jersey." The latter, being freed from her living 
 freight at the close of the war, was shunned as a nest 
 of pestilence. The worms destroyed her already half- 
 
 1 " Thus wrote JohnMorin Scott, an illustrious statesman and soldier 
 of those days : 
 
 Let the dark Scorpion s hull narrate 
 
 The dismal tale of English hate ; 
 
 Her horrid tales let Jersey tell, 
 
 And mock the shades where demons dwell, 
 
 Their shriek of pain and dying groan 
 
 Unheeded fell on hearts of stone. " 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 decayed bottom, and she sank, bearing inscribed on 
 her planks the names of thousands of American pris 
 oners. For more than twenty years the ebbing tide 
 exposed her bare ribs, but this evidence of British bar 
 barity was at length buried beneath the United States 
 navy yard. 1 The precise number of deaths that oc 
 curred from ill treatment and starvation on these 
 hulks will never be known till the day of doom. 
 Many of these victims never had the rites of sepulture ; 
 and others were so imperfectly covered that for some 
 time after the war their bones were found uncovered 
 on the shores of Long Island. 
 
 To return to Freneau s description : 
 
 " Thou, Scorpion, fatal to thy crowded throng, 
 Dire theme of horror and Plutonian song, 
 Requir st my lay thy sultry decks I know, 
 And all the torments that exist below ! 
 The briny wave that Hudson s bosom fills 
 Drain d through her bottom in a thousand rills : 
 Rotten and old, replete with sighs and groans, 
 Scarce on the waters she sustain d her bones ; 
 Here, doom d to toil, or founder in the tide, 
 At the moist pumps incessantly we ply d, 
 Here, doom d to starve, like famish d dogs, we tore 
 The scant allowance that our tyrants bore. 
 
 When to the ocean sinks the western sun, 
 And the scorch d Tories fire their evening gun, 
 c Down, rebels, down ! the angry Scotchmen cry, 
 Base dogs, descend, or by our broad swords die ! * 
 Hail, dark abode ! what can with thee compare ? 
 Heat, sickness, famine, death, and stagnant air 
 Swift from the guarded decks we rush d along, 
 And vainly sought repose, so vast our throng ; 
 Four hundred wretches here, denied all light, 
 In crowded mansions pass the infernal night, 
 
 i History of New York, by Miss Booth. 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Some for a bed their tatter d vestments join, 
 And some on chests, and some on floors recline ; 
 Shut from the blessings of the evening air 
 Pensive we lay with mingled corpses there, 
 Meagre and wan, and scorch d with heat below, 
 We look d like ghosts, ere death had made us so 
 How could we else, where heat and hunger joined, 
 Thus to debase the body and the mind, 
 No waters laded from the bubbling spring 
 To these dire ships these little tyrants bring 
 By planks and ponderous beams completely walFd 
 In vain for water and in vain we call d 
 No drop was granted to the midnight prayer, 
 To rebels in these regions of despair ! 
 The loathsome cask a deadly dose contains, 
 Its poison circling through the languid veins. 
 
 Sweet morn dispell d the horrors of the shade; 
 On every side dire objects met the sight, 
 And pallid forms, and murders of the night, 
 The dead were past their pain, the living groan, 
 Nor dare to hope another morn their own; 
 But what to them is morn s delightful ray ? 
 Sad and distrestful as the close of day ; 
 O er distant streams appears the dewy green, 
 And leafy trees on mountain tops are seen, 
 But they no groves nor grassy mountains tread 
 Mark d for a longer journey to the dead." 
 
 The freedom-loving and freedom-craving spirit of 
 Freneau, like the caged eagle, vainly beat its wings 
 against the bars of its cage ; and what wonder that it 
 finally succumbed to the horrors of his situation, 
 and that he was borne in a half-dying condition from 
 that infected hulk to the even more loathsome one 
 of the hospital ship, the " Hunter " ? 
 
 " Joyful we left the Scorpion s dire abode ; 
 Some tears we shed for the remaining crew, 
 Then curs d the hulk, and from her sides withdrew." 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 THE HOSPITAL PRISON SHIP. 
 
 u Now tow rds the Hunter s gloomy decks we came, 
 A slaughter-house, yet hospital in name ; 
 We were so pale ! that we were thought by some 
 A freight of ghosts, from death s dominions come 
 Down to the gloom we took our pensive way, 
 Along the decks the dying captives lay ; 
 Some struck with madness, some with scurvy pain d, 
 But still of putrid fevers most complain d ! 
 On the hard floors these wasted objects laid, - 
 There toss d and tumbled in the dismal shade, 
 There no soft voice their bitter fate bemoan d, 
 And death trode stately, while the victims groan d ; 
 Of leaky decks I heard them long complain, 
 Drown d as they were in deluges of rain, 
 Deny d the comforts of a dying bed, 
 And not a pillow to support the head 
 How could they else but pine, and grieve, and sigh, 
 Detest a wretched life and wish to die ? 
 Scarce had I mingled with this dismal band 
 When a thin victim seiz d me by the hand 
 c And art thou come/ (death heavy on his eyes) 
 c And art thou come to these abodes ? he cries. 
 Why didst thou leave the Scorpion s dark retreat, 
 And hither haste, a surer death to meet ? 
 Why didst thou leave thy damp infected cell ? 
 If that was purgatory, this is hell. 
 
 From Brooklyn heights a Hessian doctor came, 
 Not great his skill, nor greater much his fame ; 
 Fair Science never calPd the wretch her son, 
 And Art disdain d the stupid man to own ; 
 Can you admire that Science was so coy, 
 Or Art refus d his genius to employ ? 
 Do men with brutes an equal dullness share, 
 Or cuts yon grovelling mole the midway air ? 
 In polar worlds can Eden s blossoms blow ? 
 Do trees of God in barren deserts grow ? 
 Are loaded vines to Etna s summit known, 
 Or swells the peach beneath the frozen zone ? 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 He on his charge the healing work begun 
 
 With antimonial mixtures by the tun, 
 
 Ten minutes was the time he deign d to stay, 
 
 The time of grace allotted once a day. 
 
 He drench d us well with bitter draughts, t is true, 
 
 Nostrums from hell, and cortex from Peru 
 
 Some with his pills he sent to Pluto s reign, 
 
 And some he blister d with his flies of Spain ; 
 
 And Tartar doses walk d their deadly round. 
 
 Here, uncontrouPd, he exercis d his trade, 
 And grew experienc d by the deaths he made, 
 By frequent blows we from his cane endur d 
 He kill d at least as many as he cur d, 
 On our lost comrades built his future fame, 
 And scatter d fate where er his footsteps came. 
 Knave though he was, yet candour must confess 
 Not chief Physician was this man of Hesse 
 One master o er the murdering tribe was plac d, 
 By him the rest were honour d or disgrac d ; 
 Once, and but once, by some strange fortune led 
 He came to see the dying and the dead 
 He came but anger so deform d his eye, 
 And such a faulchion glitter d on his thigh, 
 And such a gloom his visage darken d o er, 
 And two such pistols in his hands he bore ! 
 That by the gods ! with such a load of steel, 
 He came, we thought, to murder, not to heal 
 All were astonish d at the oaths he swore ; 
 He swore till every prisoner stood aghast, 
 And thought him Satan in a brimstone blast ; 
 He wish d us banish d from the public light, 
 And wish d us shrouded in perpetual night ! 
 That were he king, no mercy would he show, 
 But drive all rebels to the world below. 
 
 Each day, at least six carcasses we bore 
 And scratch d them graves along the sandy shore. 
 By feeble hands the shallow graves were made, 
 No stone, memorial, o er the corpses laid ; 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 In barren sands, and far from home, they lie, 
 No friend to shed a tear, when passing by ; 
 O er the mean tombs the insulting Britons tread, 
 Spurn at the sand, and curse the rebel dead. 
 When to your arms these fatal islands fall, 
 (For first, or last, they must be conquer d all) 
 Americans ! to rites sepulchral just, 
 With gentlest footstep press this kindred dust, 
 And o er the tombs, if tombs can then be found, 
 Place the green turf, and plant the myrtle round. 
 These all in Freedom s sacred cause allied 
 For Freedom ventur d and for Freedom died." 
 
 Sixty long days and nights Freneau passed between 
 the deck and the hold of the " Scorpion ; " how many 
 more he remained in the "Hunter," we do not know 
 exactly ; but the capture occurred in May, and he 
 was released in July of the same year, 1780. 
 
 It had been agreed between the British government 
 and the United Colonies that all privateers sailing 
 with letters of marque should be subject to the same 
 rules of exchange as officers in the army. Boudinot 
 had been appointed commissioner for the exchange of 
 prisoners, and his father and Andre Freneau having 
 been old friends as well as compatriots, he, as may be 
 supposed, lost no time in setting Philip at liberty. 
 Pintard, Boudinot s secretary, was a warm friend of 
 Freneau s, an d frequently spoke of the sufferings of 
 his friend and his fellow-captives. A very romantic 
 story in regard to the supposed escape of Freneau 
 from the prison ship has been published, but we have 
 the reality of his exchange in his own words : 
 
 "On the 1 2th of July, the flag came alongside 
 and cleared the hospital ship. But the miseries we 
 endured in getting to Elizabeth Town were many ; 
 those that were very bad, of which the proportion was 
 great, naturally took possession of the hold. No 
 prisoner was allowed to go in the cabin, so that I, with 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 twenty or thirty others, was obliged to sleep out all 
 the night, which was uncommonly cold for the season. 
 About ten next morning we arrived at Elizabeth Town 
 Point, where we were kept in the burning sun several 
 hours till the Commissary came to discharge us. I was 
 afflicted with such pains in my joints I could scarcely 
 walk, and besides was weakened with a raging fever ; 
 nevertheless, I walked the two miles to Elizabeth 
 Town ; here I got a passage on a wagon to within a 
 mile of Crow s Ferry, which I walked ; got a passage 
 over the ferry, and walked on as far as Molly Bud- 
 leigh s, where I stayed all night; next morning, 
 having breakfasted on some bread and milk, I set 
 homeward ; when I came to Obadiah Budleigh s cor 
 ner, I turned to the right and came home through 
 the woods, for fear of terrifying the neighbors with 
 my ghastly looks had I gone thro Mount Pleasant. 
 July 14, 1780. I forgot to mention that as soon as 
 we came to New York, and things were a little ad 
 justed, Mr. Chatham, our first mate, went on board 
 the" Aurora " and found his desk with mine and several 
 books open and everything taken out ; so much for 
 English honor and honesty. 1 N. B. Wrote a letter 
 by Hulings to Mr. G., but received no answer. Two 
 days before I was exchanged got a letter from Mr. 
 G. offering me anything I wanted, pretending he did 
 not know what ship I was in. I returned him a letter 
 of thanks, letting him know that if he could get me a 
 parole it would be the greatest favor he could do me. 
 The same day Mr. Robins came alongside in a small 
 boat with fish, offering me what money I wanted. I 
 begged him to lay the money out in wine, oranges, 
 and lemons, and send them to me. He promised to 
 be alongside in three hours, but I never saw him after- 
 
 1 In leaving the " Aurora" Freneau had been assured by the commander 
 of the " Iris " that his personal effects would be carefully cared for and 
 would be turned over to him later on. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 ward ; in short I met with nothing but disappointment 
 among this people, and cannot sufficiently congratulate 
 myself upon having got from among them/* 
 
 Among some papers belonging to Freneau s daugh 
 ter, Mrs. Agnes Leadbeater, was a clipping from a 
 newspaper yellow with age ; it bore no date and read 
 as follows : " At Big Flats, Steuben Co., N. Y., the 
 4th inst., Hon. Wm. Steele, aet. ninety-five years. 
 Mr. Steele was born in the city of New York, and 
 took an active part in the revolutionary struggle. In 
 the spring of 1780 he sailed from Philadelphia on board 
 the Aurora/ a twenty-gun ship, which was shortly 
 after captured by the British frigate c lris bear 
 ing despatches of the surrender of Charleston to the 
 British. In the running fight which ensued he was 
 severely wounded, taken prisoner, and detained be 
 tween four or five months when he was exchanged in 
 the exchange of prisoners." 
 
 It was a singular coincidence that the " Iris " that 
 captured Freneau should be the bearer of despatches 
 containing news of the defeat of an afterwards intimate 
 friend, Charles Coesworth Pinckney of South Caro 
 lina, who commanded Fort Moultrie, but was obliged 
 to abandon the fort to help with the defence of the city 
 of Charleston ; but not, however, until he had inflicted 
 great injury upon the British, whose force was greatly 
 superior to his. 
 
 [120} 
 
Chapter Eighth 
 
 THE exchange of prisoners occurring in the sum 
 mer of 1780, Philip returned to his mother s 
 house to recuperate ; his health having been 
 quite shattered by the rigors of his captivity. It is 
 unnecessary to add that he carried with him a burning 
 resentment for the ignominious and cruel treatment he 
 had undergone. It was during these months of rest 
 and a mother s care that he wrote the poem from which 
 we have so largely drawn in the preceding chapter. 
 Originally, the poem contained four cantos, and was 
 thus printed by Francis Bailey in Philadelphia in the 
 year 1781, entitled "Cantos from a Prison Ship." 
 Later on, the author recast it, as was his wont with 
 his productions, and it appeared in the Monmouth 
 edition in three cantos, and was entitled, " The British 
 Prison Ship ; " it runs to about six hundred and 
 fifty lines. Mr. Edward Delancey, having quoted a 
 few lines of this poem in his " Proceedings of the 
 Huguenot Society of America," 1 says : " The poem 
 was intended to rouse up American feeling, then in 
 1780 excessively depressed; and it serves to show 
 Freneau s power to arrest public attention, as well as 
 the variety, beauty, and force of different characteristics 
 of his verse;" and he continues : " Of course, the poem 
 is exaggerated in its statements, but in this the skill of 
 the true poet shows itself, for in all appeals of this kind 
 exaggeration is a necessity if an effect is to be produced 
 just as the sculptor is obliged to make the figure 
 of his hero larger than life, if his statue is to be im 
 pressive." In the accounts given by persons who were 
 
 1 Vol. ii. No. a. 
 
 [12,] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 not poets, and therefore without any poetical license 
 to exaggerate, the description falls very little, if at all, 
 short of Freneau s. Nearly half of the British force 
 in the vicinity of New York was Hessian, and we 
 learn from history that in such contempt were the 
 Hessians held on account of their brutal force and 
 hireling character, that Frederick the Great, disgusted 
 at the thought of any sovereign employing such a 
 force to reduce his colonies, charged so much a head 
 for permitting them to cross his territory ; saying, 
 satirically, that was the rate he charged for driv 
 ing live stock across his kingdom. The boot now 
 exhibited at Washington s Headquarters in Newburg 
 on the Hudson as belonging to one of these troops, 
 speaks volumes as to the owner of such a machine. 
 
 The year of Freneau s capture and imprisonment, 
 as well as the succeeding one, was dreary enough for 
 the patriots. In the north, military operations were 
 mostly suspended; and in the south the army had 
 met with many reverses. As we have seen in the last 
 chapter, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney had been com 
 pelled to yield Fort Moultrie to greatly superior 
 forces, and to reinforce General Lincoln, who was try 
 ing to hold Charleston with fourteen hundred men 
 against Sir Henry Clinton with five thousand. South 
 Carolina was at last obliged to surrender, and the 
 garrison, including Pinckney, were made prisoners of 
 war. The latter was not released until peace was de 
 clared. Meanwhile, the nation s credit was at its 
 lowest ebb ; the continental bills fell in value to two 
 cents on the dollar, and business was paralyzed. Had 
 not Robert Morris and a few wealthy patriots come 
 forward and laid their private fortunes on their country s 
 shrine, its sun would have sunk then and there. The 
 condition of the army was desperate ; no food, no pay, 
 no clothing. The American women came forward and 
 did their best to provide the latter, still the army 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 suffered. To add to all this misery, Benedict Arnold 
 had turned traitor. Dismissed from Virginia, where 
 he had held supreme command after General Phillips 
 death, he returned to New York ; and, receiving from 
 Clinton a second detachment, he entered the sound, 
 landing at New London, and captured the town. 
 Colonel William Ledyard, 1 who was doubly related to 
 Philip s wife, held command of forts Griswold and 
 Trumbull which protected the city, but finding his 
 force inadequate to hold them both, he withdrew all 
 his force, amounting to one hundred and fifty militia, 
 to the former, and held it for about an hour against 
 eight hundred British troops. The works were carried 
 after severe fighting, but not until the two superior 
 officers and two hundred men had been killed or dis 
 abled on the British side. Upon its surrender, Major 
 Bromfield, upon whom the command now devolved, 
 asked who commanded the garrison. Ledyard replied, 
 " I did command it, but you do now," and handed him 
 his sword. Bromfield, taking it, ran it through the 
 body of Colonel Ledyard up to the hilt, and a general 
 massacre ensued. About one hundred men were killed 
 and wounded. A monument has been erected near 
 the spot to commemorate the massacre. 
 
 Miss Fannie Ledyard, a niece of Colonel Ledyard, 
 was on a visit to Groton, Conn., while Arnold was 
 carrying on his butcheries there, and she devoted her 
 whole time to caring for the wounded and dying. 
 She became quite a heroine during the war, and her 
 name is honorably mentioned amongst the devoted 
 and self-sacrificing women of the Revolution. She 
 afterwards married R. L. Peters of Southold, and her 
 remains rest in the old cemetery near the historic 
 home of her ancestors. This family, being so nearly 
 related to Philip, and its history a romantic one, it will 
 not do to pass over. 
 
 1 Colonel Ledyard was at the time thirty -one years of age. 
 
 [123] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 At the eastern extremity of Long Island is a quaint 
 old town called Southold ; and one of the oldest and 
 most interesting landmarks of the place is the Case 
 House, which was erected in the year 1647, at which 
 time the only communication with it was by water. 
 A writer, in speaking of the house, has said : " Around 
 this old building cluster many romantic legends and 
 quaint stories, interwoven with the names of men and 
 women who have figured in the early history of Suf 
 folk County." 
 
 In those early times this house was considered quite 
 an aristocratic affair. It stands about a mile south of 
 Horton s Point, where the settlers of Suffolk landed 
 in 1640. In 1673 the Dutch commissioners, sup 
 posing themselves, like Crusoe, monarchs of all they 
 surveyed, paid a visit to this town for the purpose of 
 making Thomas Moore high-sheriff; but, unlike 
 Crusoe, they; found they were not so, for the settlers, 
 indignant at the idea of being made Dutch whether 
 they would or not, protested against this aggressive 
 measure and desired the authority of the commission 
 ers to act in their regard ; and they immediately voted 
 to connect themselves with the commonwealth of 
 Connecticut. 
 
 John Ledyard, a son of this old house, married 
 the daughter of Judge Young, and afterwards re 
 moved to the township of New London, Conn. ; 
 the place near Groton is named Ledyard after him. 
 His eldest son, also named John, returned to Southold 
 and married the famous beauty of the time, Abigail, 
 the daughter of Robert Hempstead. 1 Mr. Ledyard 
 engaged in the West Indian trade, but died at the early 
 age of thirty-five years ; Mrs. Ledyard retained much 
 of her former beauty, and afterward married Dr. Micah 
 Moore, the beloved physician of that section. 
 
 Her eldest son, John, afterwards known as Ledyard 
 
 1 The city of Hempstead is named after this family. 
 
 [124} 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 the Traveller, upon the second marriage of his mother, 
 went to reside with his paternal grandfather in Con 
 necticut. After making his studies he attempted law, 
 but his mother, desirous of having him become a mis 
 sionary to the Indians, had him placed at Dartmouth 
 College with that intention. During his stay there 
 he absented himself for several months, and upon his 
 return he excused his absence as arising from a desire 
 to visit the Six Nations and study Indian life. Whether 
 it was the experience he had with them or a disinclina 
 tion for the ministry that caused him to abandon the 
 project, is not known ; but he soon after presented 
 himself at his mother s house, having sailed down the 
 Connecticut River and across the sound, master of his 
 own vessel ; this original affair being a dug-out, or 
 canoe made from the trunks of a tree hollowed out in 
 Indian fashion. Soon after, his adventurous spirit 
 caused him to run away from home and embark on a 
 ship bound for the Mediterranean. 1 Arriving in Lon 
 don as Captain Cook was preparing for his third voyage 
 around the world, Ledyard was introduced to him 
 and produced such a favorable impression upon the 
 bold navigator that he readily accepted him as an 
 assistant. Ledyard was with Captain Cook when 
 he was killed by the cannibals. Although Ledyard 
 remained in the British service, he refused to bear 
 arms against his native country. In 1782 the man- 
 of-war to which he belonged arrived off Huntington, 
 and, obtaining leave of absence, he paid a visit to his 
 mother. Finding some British officers in her parlor, 
 he did not make himself known ; and he had changed 
 so much during his eight years of absence that he was 
 not recognized. During the visit some familiar ex- 
 
 1 According to the Records of the Genealogical Society, Ledyard had 
 "just cause" for leaving his relatives. A commentator remarks that the 
 fact that people sometimes retain the property belonging to others is not 
 calculated to keep those who are wronged around the ancestral home. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 pression attracted the lady s attention ; and, after 
 scrutinizing him for a moment, she pressed him to 
 her heart, forgetting the presence of strangers, so great 
 was her joy ; their astonishment was considerable until 
 the matter was explained. In 1785 Ledyard visited 
 Paris, and was received most kindly by Mr. Jefferson, 
 United States minister at the time, and also by Lafay 
 ette. Desirous of fitting out an exploring expedition, 
 he found Captain Paul Jones a ready co-operator in 
 his plan ; but circumstances prevente d their carrying 
 it into effect. During one of his journeys he attempted 
 to cross the Gulf of Bothnia on the ice, but upon 
 reaching the middle he found open water, and was 
 obliged to alter his course and walk around the whole 
 coast of the gulf, although it was the dead of winter. 
 By the time he reached St. Petersburg he had jour 
 neyed upwards of fourteen hundred miles in seven 
 weeks. At Irkootsk he was arrested as a spy, and 
 thought he got off very easily when the empress or 
 dered two guards to accompany him to the frontiers 
 of Poland, and there dismiss him with the threat of 
 being hanged if he ever entered Russia again. It is most 
 probable that he did not. After travelling over the most 
 of the then known part of the world, he died at Cairo, 
 as he was preparing to cross the African continent 
 westerly from Sennaar. It is said of him that he 
 was adventurous beyond the conception of ordinary 
 men, yet wary and considerate ; and he appeared to 
 be formed by nature for achievements of hardihood 
 and peril ; for capacity of endurance, resolution, and 
 physical vigor, he was one of the most remarkable of 
 modern travellers ; and had he possessed means equal 
 to his zeal, his name would doubtless have been asso 
 ciated with important discoveries, as it now is with 
 wonderful and romantic, but unprofitable adventures. 
 Writing to Mr. Jefferson, he utters a beautiful and re 
 fined compliment. Expressing his appreciation of the 
 
 [ ** 1 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 former s kindness while in Paris, he writes : " I shall 
 never think my letter an indifferent one when it con 
 tains the declaration of my gratitude and my affection 
 for you ; and this, notwithstanding you thought 
 hard of me for being employed by an English associa 
 tion, which hurt me while I was in Paris. You know 
 your own heart; and if my suspicions are groundless, 
 forgive them, since they proceed from the jealousy I 
 have, not to lose the regard you have in times past 
 been pleased to honor me with. You are not obliged 
 to esteem me, but I am obliged to esteem you, or take 
 leave of my senses and confront the opinions of the 
 greatest and best characters I know. If I cannot 
 therefore address myself to you as a man you regard, 
 I must do it as one that regards you, for your own 
 sake and for the sake of my country, which has set 
 me the example." 1 
 
 His relative, Freneau s wife, used to tell an amus 
 ing story of an unexpected visit from him upon his 
 return from one of his perilous adventures. She was 
 seated by a window in Middleton Point engaged in 
 reading, when she heard the hasty galloping of a horse, 
 and suddenly felt herself embraced most warmly, and 
 then heard the retreating gallop of the same down the 
 street ; and all in shorter time than it takes to tell it. 
 Her feeling of indignation cooled down later on, upon 
 learning that the author of the affair was her wild, fun- 
 loving relative; for no one could be angry with Jack 
 Ledyard. 
 
 After the battle of Long Island, in which, as we 
 
 1 A biographer of Ledyard has written, " Ledyard gave Jefferson a 
 great deal of valuable information, which, for political reasons, Jefferson did 
 not publish, but which was of great benefit to him in the conduct of for 
 eign affairs when he became president." He likewise says that the success 
 of the administration in pushing forward the contest which made the Pa 
 cific the western boundary, in opposition to the Hudson Bay Co. , and also 
 in opposition to a great many American Congressmen, was partly due to 
 information given by Ledyard in the early days. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 have seen, the patriots were defeated, the British 
 occupied the eastern extremity of the island, making 
 their headquarters at the Vail 1 house, which was not 
 far from Mrs. Moore s residence. The officers fre 
 quently visited that lady, probably attracted by her 
 charming daughters. Mrs. Moore was a thorough 
 patriot, but nevertheless entertained her guests most 
 hospitably ; keeping, however, a sharp eye on her 
 young people. A ship lay at anchor in the sound in 
 sight of the house, whose commander very frequently 
 was a guest of the lady. Her third and last child by 
 the name of Ledyard, Jerusia, looked favorably on 
 her suitor, although he wore the uniform of a British 
 naval officer, and was righting against her country ; 
 but her mother looked less favorably upon his suit. 
 One day Jerusia was missing, and the ship gave tokens 
 of a sudden departure. Summoning some men, the 
 determined mother had herself taken in a boat along 
 side the ship, and demanded her daughter ; but gave 
 her consent to the nuptials, provided the ceremony 
 was performed in the little Puritan church in the 
 village, which was done. 
 
 The oldest daughter by Mrs. Ledyard s second 
 marriage, Rebecca, married Captain Jonathan Landon, 
 who commanded the brig " Georgia " of historic fame ; 
 and Julia, the youngest, became the wife of Matthias 
 Case and succeeded her mother as mistress of the Led- 
 yard-Moore-Case house. The latter name it bears 
 at the present day. For years the town meetings were 
 held at this house ; and whenever there was a question 
 of a vote it was taken on the lawn in front, the voters 
 being drawn up in lines. 2 
 
 1 Both this house and the Case house are yet standing. 
 
 2 Connected with this family are: Rev. Theodore Ledyard Cuyler, 
 D.D., Lewis Cass Ledyard, Horatio Seymour, John Seymour, Ex-Gov. 
 E. D. Morgan, Thomas Seymour of Connecticut, Governor and Con 
 gressman, Senator George Ledyard, and the Baroness von Kettler. 
 
 [zrf] 
 
Poet of the Revolution 
 
 When Arnold left New York with his family for 
 England in 1781, Freneau celebrated his departure by 
 an ode which is in imitation of Horace. 
 
 Duyckinck says Freneau s rendering is quite skilful, 
 and shows his scholar s appreciation of the original. 
 
 ARNOLD S DEPARTURE. 
 
 Mala soluta navis exit aliter 
 Ferens olentem Maevium. 
 
 Imitated from HORACE. 
 
 With evil omens from the harbour sails 
 
 The ill-fated ship that worthless Arnold bears, 
 
 God of the southern winds, call up thy gales, 
 And whistle in rude fury round his ears. 
 
 With horrid waves insult his vessel s sides, 
 And may the east wind on a leeward shore 
 
 Her cables snap, while she in tumult rides, 
 And shatter into shivers every oar. 
 
 And let the north wind to her ruin haste, 
 
 With such a rage, as when from mountains high 
 
 He rends the tall oak with his weighty blast, 
 And ruin spreads, where er his forces fly. 
 
 May not one friendly star that night be seen ; 
 
 No Moon, attendant, dart one glimmering ray, 
 Nor may she ride on oceans more serene 
 
 Than Greece, triumphant, found that stormy day, 
 
 When angry Pallas spent her rage no more 
 On vanquished Ilium, then in ashes laid, 
 
 But turn d it on the barque that Ajax bore 
 Avenging thus her temple and the maid. 
 
 When toss d upon the vast Atlantic main 
 
 Your groaning ship the southern gales shall tear, 
 
 How will your sailors sweat, and you complain 
 And meanly howl to Jove, that will not hear ! 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 But if at last, upon some winding shore 
 A prey to hungry cormorants you lie, 
 
 A wanton goat to every stormy power, 1 
 And a fat lamb in sacrifice, shall die. 
 
 Of this poem, Professor Murray says some parts are 
 unequalled. 
 
 In this year, 1881, Freneau published his poem com 
 memorating the naval victory of Paul Jones. It was 
 entitled " On the Memorable Victory/ which the same 
 professor says is a genuine specimen of the national 
 ballad. One beautiful phase of Freneau s character 
 was his freedom from all sentiment of jealousy. Prob 
 ably no one was ever found more willing to bestow 
 praise, when deserved, than he. Although the entire 
 poem is a panegyric, I select a few stanzas to exemplify 
 what I have already stated : 
 
 " T was Jones, brave Jones, to battle led 
 As bold a crew as ever bled 
 
 Upon the sky surrounded main ; 
 The standards of the western world 
 Were to the willing winds unfurPd, 
 
 Denying Britain s tyrant reign." 
 
 And again : 
 
 " But thou, brave Jones, no blame shalt bear ; 
 The rights of men demand your care : 
 
 For these you dare the greedy waves 
 No tyrant, on destruction bent, 
 Has plann d thy conquests thou art sent 
 
 To humble tyrants and their slaves." 
 
 The poem contains twenty-one stanzas descriptive 
 of the battle. The concluding stanzas run thus : 
 
 " Go on, great man, to scourge the foe, 
 And bid these haughty Britons know 
 
 1 The tempests were goddesses among the Romans. 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 They to our "Thirteen Stars shall bend ; 
 The Stars that, veiPd in dark attire, 
 Long glimmer d with a feeble fire, 
 
 But radiant now ascend. 
 
 " Bend to the stars that flaming rise 
 On western worlds, more brilliant skies, 
 
 Fair Freedom s reign restor d 
 So when the Magi, come from far, 
 Beheld the God-attending Star, 
 
 They trembled and ador d." 1 
 
 During the year 1781 and till peace was declared, 
 Freneau strove to animate his countrymen with his 
 pen, as indeed he had ever done since the outbreak of 
 hostilities. From Concord to Yorktown, during the 
 bleak winter at Valley Forge, and round the camp-fires 
 on Temple Hill, his verses encouraged the desponding 
 soldiers. The newspapers widely published them, and 
 they were written on slips of paper and distributed 
 throughout the army, or posted in some conspicuous 
 place to be memorized. And not alone by the camp- 
 fire did they accomplish their work, but even on 
 the field ; his earnestness and zeal encouraged the 
 patriots to greater efforts, or urged them on at the 
 point of his bayonet (the pen) when he saw any signs 
 of their lagging behind ; and afterwards he immortalized 
 the victories they won. Not a memorable incident 
 either by land or by water escaped his ever watchful 
 and unwearied pen. 
 
 Conscious that ridicule best kills a cause, every 
 vain exploit of the enemy was depicted in a ludicrous 
 light ; and so successfully did he attack those that still 
 adhered to the crown that he gained to his side many 
 who through indifference had given their adherence to 
 
 1 This action was fought off Flamborough Head the 23d of Septem 
 ber, 1779. Few naval battles have made a greater popular impression. 
 The history of Jones has an air of romance and gallantry, of courage 
 and adventure. His ability as an officer and seaman cannot be disputed. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 neither party. This was too serious a time to think 
 of future fame ; the stern realities of the present were 
 to be met, and by a supreme effort everything was to 
 be gained or all lost. His country s fortunes were 
 his, and he threw himself heart and soul into the task. 
 Exquisite melodies could hardly touch the hearts of 
 the half-clothed barefooted soldiers. It would be like 
 the mockery of pouring a wineglass of Tokay or 
 Johannisberg into the poor empty canteens of half- 
 famished soldiers. No, he wrote to arouse, to inspire, 
 to encourage the rough, illiterate men of whom the 
 army was mostly composed. And as no two natures 
 are precisely alike, he enlisted all his talents in his 
 work; burlesque, satire, imprecation, nothing was 
 neglected that might touch an answering chord in 
 their hearts. Now he would ring a note of victory, 
 now one of defiance, again that of denunciation in 
 answer to some Tory gibe. 
 
 Some writer has said, " Was it not as grand and true 
 a spirit that would belittle itself to cheer the down 
 hearted patriots, or give their unrefined ears some 
 jingle to sing or some praise to cheer, as issued from 
 the lips of the officers on the field? it was all for the 
 same cause." It has also been truthfully said that 
 among the poets of the Revolution that contributed 
 the most effectually to animate the colonists in their 
 struggles with England, Freneau holds the chief place ; 
 and that during the war, and for several years after 
 wards, his efforts were so much appreciated that he 
 enjoyed a large measure of popularity : and even since 
 that time many of his productions have received high 
 praise abroad and at home. His real strength lay in 
 his earnestness, and it was this quality that made his 
 revolutionary verses popular, and contributed to their 
 real merit. 
 
 During the war he satirized Tryon, Gage, Bur- 
 goyne,Vaughan, Knyphausen, and Lords Percy, North, 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 and Jeffries, also the blundering of the British troops 
 by land, and their losses by sea ; and, above all, the 
 crown in its representative, George, whom he called a 
 "royal coward." In fact, as Professor Tyler has said, 
 " a running commentary on his Revolutionary satires 
 would be an almost complete commentary on the 
 whole Revolutionary struggle ; nearly every important 
 emergency and phase of which are photographed in 
 his keen, merciless, and often brilliant lines." 
 
 The war ending in 1783, Freneau dropped his 
 bloodless warfare and turned his satirical powers 
 upon the rival printers Rivington and Gaines ; who 
 had changed their signs as well as their coats to suit 
 each power that held the ascendency ; and which he 
 thought called rather for ridicule than eloquence. And 
 in this, Dr. Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, and 
 Trumbull joined him, opening their batteries of se^ 
 verity and ridicule upon these unfortunate remnants of 
 Toryism. James Rivington was a London bookseller 
 who had established himself in New York, and com 
 menced, in 1773, the publication of the "New York 
 Gazetteer," a Tory organ. In 1775, Isaac Sears, a 
 " Son of Liberty," destroyed his office and ran his 
 type into bullets ; Rivington repaired to England, 
 obtained the appointment of king s printer, and re 
 turned with new type to New York. Although he 
 seemed to do his best to fan the flame of Toryism 
 before and during the war, after it was over he 
 escaped deserved punishment by having acted as 
 a spy for Washington. Nevertheless, Freneau, who 
 detested insincerity, commemorated his turncoat pro 
 pensities in several poems ; but Rivington, a supple 
 courtier, stood the fire, took down the royal arms of 
 which Freneau made sport, and continued his paper 
 under the title of " New York Gazette and Universal 
 Advertiser." This latter quality drew upon him Fre- 
 neau s ridicule ; it is said that his advertisements sup- 
 
 \*33\ 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 plied no small amount of amusement to all his readers. 
 The poet caricatures them thus in his verses entitled, 
 " Rivington s last Will and Testament/ of which I 
 will only quote an occasional verse : 
 
 " To the king, my dear master, I give a full sett, 
 In volumes bound up, of the Royal Gazette, 
 In which he will find the vast records contain d 
 Of provinces conquer d, and victories gain d. 
 
 " As to Arnold, the traitor, and Satan his brother, 
 I beg they will also accept of another ; 
 And this shall be bound in morocco red leather, 
 Provided they 11 read it, like brothers, together. 
 
 " But if Arnold should die, t is another affair, 
 Then Satan, surviving, shall be the sole heir ; 
 He often has told me he thought it quite clever, 
 So to him and his heirs, I bequeath it forever. 
 
 " I know there are some, that would fain be thought wise 
 Who say my Gazette is a record of lies; 
 In answer to this I shall only reply 
 All the choice that I had was, to starve or to lie. 
 
 " My fiddles, my flutes, French horns and guitars, 1 
 I leave to our Heroes, now weary of wars 
 To the wars of the stage they more boldly advance, 2 
 The captains shall play and the soldiers shall dance. 
 
 u To Sir Henry Clinton his use and behoof, 
 I leave my French brandy, of very good proof; 
 It will give him fresh spirits for battle and slaughter 
 And make him feel bolder by land and by water : 
 
 " To Baron Knyphausen, his heirs and assigns, 
 I bequeath my old Hock, and my Burgundy wines, 
 
 1 Rivington seems to have prided himself on his supply of " good 
 fiddles." 
 
 2 " It became fashionable at this period with the British officers to 
 assume the business of the drama, to the no small mortification of those 
 who had been holding them up as the conquerors of North America." 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 To a true Hessian drunkard, no liquors are sweeter, 
 And I know the old man is no foe to the creature. 
 
 " To a General, my namesake, I give and dispose 
 Of a purse full of clipp d, light, sweated half Joes : 
 I hereby desire him to take back his trash, 
 And return me my Hannay s infallible Wash. 
 
 " My chessmen and tables, and other such chattels 
 I give to Cornwallis, renowned in battles : 
 By moving of these, not tracing the map, 
 He ll explain to the king how he got in a trap." 
 
 The type of the " Gazette " being rather delicate 
 through age, Freneau commemorates the fact in an 
 epigram entitled cc Epigram. Occasioned by the Title 
 of Mr. Rivingtons New Tork Royal Gazette being 
 scarcely legible." 
 
 Undoubtedly to please Freneau, the editor of the 
 " Gazette " got new types, and this fact called for some 
 " Lines. Occasioned by Mr. Rivingtons new Titular 
 types to his Royal Gazette of February 17, 1782." 
 
 Then his arms fell under Freneau s fire and the edi 
 tor had new ones engraved, which called for another 
 set of verses : 
 
 ON MR. RIVINGTON S NEW ENGRAVED KING S ARMS 
 TO HIS ROYAL GAZETTE. 
 
 From the regions of night, with his head in a sack, 
 Ascended a person accoutred in black, 
 And upward directing his circular eye whites ; 
 (Like the Jure-divino political Levites) 
 And leaning his elbow on Rivington s shelf, 
 While the printer was busy thus mus d with himself: 
 " My mandates are fully complied with at last, 
 New Arms are engrav d, and new letters are cast ; 
 I therefore determine and freely accord, 
 This servant of mine shall receive his reward." 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Then turning about, to the printer he said, 
 "Who late was my servant shall now be my aid; 
 Since under my banner so bravely you fight, 
 Kneel down ! for your merits I dubb you a knight, 
 From a passive subaltern I bid you to rise 
 The Inventor, as well as the Printer of Lies." 
 
 Freneau s other victim, Hugh Gaines, an Irishman 
 by birth, had settled in New York as a printer in 
 1750; and two years later established a newspaper 
 called the " New York Mercury/ 1 His sign was a Bible 
 and a crown ; his politics, whichever side was upper 
 most. After the war he was allowed to continue his 
 book store, striking the crown from his sign ; but his 
 paper was discontinued. At the beginning of the war 
 he sided with the patriots, and when the British seized 
 New York, he retired to New Jersey and published 
 his paper there for a few weeks, but returned to New 
 York and continued his printing, under the protection 
 of the royal army. Freneau has written a Poetical 
 Biography, of Gaines, in which he depicts his retreat to 
 New Jersey, and in which occurs an image to which 
 Mr. Delancey draws attention as being an " exceed 
 ingly fine one one of the striking creations of the 
 true poet." 
 
 "IV. 
 
 " From this very day till the British came in, 
 We liv d I may say, in the Desert of Sin ; 
 Such beating, and bruising, and scratching, and tearing ; 
 Such kicking, and cuffing, and cursing and swearing ! 
 But when they advanc d with their numerous fleet, 
 And Washington made his nocturnal retreat^ 
 (And which they permitted, I say to their shame, 
 Or else your New Empire had been but a name). 
 We townsmen, like women, of Britons in dread, 
 Mistrusted their meaning, and foolishly fled ; 
 
 1 Retreat from Long Island. 
 
 if 36} 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Like the rest of the dunces I mounted my steed, 
 And gallop d away with Incredible speed, 
 To Newark I hastened but trouble and care 
 Got up on the crupper and followed me there." * 
 
 Before the war Gaines had published some of Fre- 
 neau s satires against Great Britain, and the poet 
 puts these words in Gaines mouth in apology for 
 the act: 
 
 " I first was a whig with an honest intent ; 
 Not a Rebel among them talk d louder or bolder, 
 With his sword by his side, or his gun on his shoulder, 
 Yes, I was a whig, and a whig from my heart, 
 But still was unwilling with Britain to part 
 I thought to oppose her was foolish and vain, 
 I thought she would turn and embrace us again, 
 And make us as happy as happy could be, 
 By renewing the aera of mild Sixty-three ; 
 And yet, like a cruel undutiful son, 
 Who evil returns for the good to be done, 
 Unmerited odium on Britain to throw, 
 I printed some treason for Philip Freneau, 
 Some damnable poems reflecting on Gage, 
 The King and his Council, and writ with such rage, 
 So full of invective, and loaded with spleen, 
 So sneeringly smart, and so hellishly keen, 
 That, at least in the judgment of half our wise men, 
 Alecto herself put the nib to his pen." 
 
 Dr. Francis, in his reminiscences, relates the meeting 
 of Freneau and his victim after the war. The former 
 was quietly looking at some books in the store of the 
 latter, when a friend entered ; and in saluting Freneau, 
 called him by name quite distinctly. The name ar 
 rested the attention of the old printer, who, lifting 
 up his eyes, said, 
 
 1 Probably adapted from Horace : 
 
 " Post equitem sedet atra Cura." 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 " Is your name Freneau ?" 
 
 " Yes," replied the poet, " Philip Freneau." 
 
 " Philip Freneau ? " repeated Gaines. 
 
 "Yes, sir, the same." 
 
 "Then, sir," warmly returned the latter, "you are a 
 clever fellow; let me have the pleasure of taking you 
 by the hand. Will you join me in my parlor around 
 the corner and we will have a glass of wine together. 
 You have given me and my friend Rivington a wide 
 and lasting reputation." 
 
 In 1784 we find Freneau dating a poem from Port 
 Royal; and from another, dated Charleston, 17 86, we 
 learn that he was visiting his brother in that year. 
 From a note in a very old book we find that he made 
 two voyages to Madeira as commander of the brig 
 " Washington," which was owned and freighted by his 
 brother. 
 
 Pierre, or Peter Freneau, as he was usually called, 
 was the younger and only living brother of the poet. 
 It has been stated that he was graduated at Princeton 
 College, but his name is not found upon their records. 
 This may be, satisfactorily accounted for by the fact 
 of his being a student at the time the British took 
 possession of Nassau Hall, and the rolls then in use 
 may have been destroyed, while the earlier records 
 were, probably, safe by having been stored away, and 
 have thus been handed down. Some years after his 
 graduation, and in the year 1782, Peter took up his 
 residence in Charleston. 
 
 South Carolina was a favorite location for the 
 Huguenot refugees ; consequently their numbers in 
 that State exceeded that of any other. They founded 
 large plantations on the banks of the Cooper River, 
 and to them it is said the State is indebted for the 
 introduction of the olive and mulberry. In the city 
 of Charleston they added many new streets, and their 
 merchants were distinguished as being the most active 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 and thrifty in the provinces ; and many of the most 
 distinguished families of later days are descended from 
 the Huguenot settlers. Charleston was a very aristo 
 cratic city, and it has been said to have had its no 
 bility in everything but titles. Among its residents 
 at that time were the Right Hon. Richard Beresford, 
 brother to the Premier ; Pierce Butler, cousin to the 
 Duke of Ormond; Lady Mary Middleton, and others. 
 All these circumstances may have combined to cause 
 Peter to choose that city for a permanent residence. It 
 is said that from the first he attracted general and 
 favorable notice from those the best qualified as judges, 
 and that he became a prominent and influential citizen 
 of his adopted city. 
 
 Peter was renowned throughout the State for his 
 personal beauty ; and his manners were such as to 
 endear him to all and render him popular in the 
 extreme. 1 It is most probable, if he married, that his 
 wife died early, as Mr. Thomas in his Reminiscences, 
 to which I am indebted for most of these facts, says 
 that although he kept up an establishment, he had no 
 family but his slaves. It has also been stated that 
 he never married. This, we think, is a mistake, as 
 Philip s daughter Agnes remembered, as a child, see 
 ing his wife frequently at Mt. Pleasant, and that upon 
 one of Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Freneau s visits they 
 drove by easy stages from Charleston, and presented 
 her father with the handsome span of horses, carriage, 
 and slave coachman. Peter was noted for his hand 
 some presents and generous liberality. Mrs. Agnes 
 Leadbeater also states that her elder sister Helen went 
 to Charleston with her uncle and aunt and remained 
 there some time, for the purpose of attending an 
 excellent school conducted by a daughter of Admiral 
 
 1 It is said that, when visiting Mr. and Mrs. Philip Freneau in Phila 
 delphia while that city was the seat of government, he became one of the 
 greatest social favorites and one of the most talked-of men at the assemblies. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 de Grasse, 1 as schools for females were few and poor 
 near her home. Pierre never married again, but he 
 enjoyed in his home the friendship of many who were 
 not friends alone in name, but in the deepest senti 
 ments of the heart. His conversational powers, we 
 are told, were unequalled ; and what enhanced the 
 charm was his utter unconsciousness of possessing 
 such in any eminent degree ; he communicated the 
 most interesting truths in a manner all the more 
 agreeable, as he was not conscious of saying anything 
 not already familiar to his hearers. 
 
 Sometimes he would entertain his friends by ren 
 dering into English the famous Paris editions of 
 Voltaire s plays. He was an admirable reader, and 
 his translations were ready and unequalled, so that it 
 was considered a great treat to listen to him. He 
 was well versed in ancient, as well as modern lan 
 guages, reading the Old Testament in Hebrew, and 
 the New in Greek. His Latin was said to be good, 
 but he took greater pleasure in the living languages 
 and translated well from the Italian, French, Spanish, 
 and Portuguese. Napoleon is said to have remarked 
 to Berthier, the Minister of War, that Freneau s 
 translations of his bulletins were the only correct 
 ones. Berthier communicated this fact to the French 
 minister. Pierre s reading was extensive ; he devoted 
 most of his time to it, taking a book into his hand 
 almost as soon as he entered the house. 
 
 In his early life he had started a paper called the 
 " Charleston City Gazette," which obtained a vast 
 controlling influence throughout the entire State ; and 
 it continued to increase until it was a complete political 
 lever, he himself being a host. Pierre was peculiarly 
 fitted for the position of editor, as he had a wide 
 range of general knowledge and information ; and 
 
 1 This lady afterwards married Mr. de Pau of New York. 
 
 [140] 
 
Poet of the Revolution 
 
 he wrote with the greatest ease and facility, being 
 seldom obliged to make an erasure. His style of 
 composition is said to have combined the smoothness 
 and beauty of Addison with the simplicity of Cobbett; 
 his wit was ready, and he occasionally indulged in 
 versification. 
 
 Decided in advancing his own opinions, he was 
 nevertheless just, and even liberal, to those that 
 thought differently from him ; and no difference in 
 political opinion ever caused a loss of his many warm 
 hearted and devoted friends. In politics he maintained 
 the Republican-Democratic party, and remained ever 
 identified with it. His paper was, even before Jeffer 
 son s administration, the journal of the State as well 
 as of the city, but after the nomination of the latter 
 for the presidency, the patronage of the general gov 
 ernment was added. Jefferson was warmly attached 
 to Pierre, and kept up a correspondence with him, 
 as did many other prominent men. Unfortunately, 
 many of his letters and papers were burned in the 
 fire which consumed Philip s residence at Mount 
 Pleasant. Of one of these letters we are fortunate 
 enough to have a copy. It reads as follows : 
 
 WASHINGTON, May 20, 1803. 
 
 DEAR SIR, I received last night from Paris the enclosed 
 small parcel of Egyptian rice. 1 am not informed of its merits, 
 but your s being the State where that can be best tried, I take 
 the liberty of consigning it to your care, that we may be 
 availed of whatever good it may offer. 
 
 The New York election no doubt attracted your attention 
 from the inflated hopes of the Federalists. From a concurrence 
 of circumstances they had been out with all their boldness. 
 One source of their delusion was that they were so desirous 
 of war themselves that they really believed the nation desired it. 
 Never was defeat more complete ; in Jersey it is confidently 
 believed we shall have 29 members out of 52 which con- 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 stitute both houses ; in Massachusetts we have gained two 
 senators more than we had last year, and it is believed that in 
 the election of representatives now going on, we shall gain 
 also. In Connecticut we have lost greatly in their house of 
 representatives, yet in the whole body of the people we have 
 unquestionably gained, as is proved by the votes for Governor. 
 Last year the votes for Trumbull and Kirby were 10,000 to 
 4523 ; this year they are 14,300 to 7848 ; so that the last year 
 of 100 parts of the whole voters, the Federalists had 71 and 
 the Republicans 29; this year, of 100 parts of the whole voters 
 the Federalists had 65, and the Republicans 35. We have ad 
 vanced then from 29 to 35, or 1, while they have fallen from 
 71 to 65, or -^p In New Hampshire they appear to have been 
 more stationary. Delaware is entirely equivocal and uncer 
 tain. On the whole there is no doubt of republicanism gaining 
 the entire ascendency in New England within a moderate time 
 and consolidating the union into one homogeneous mass. 
 In Philadelphia some heats have been excited against the leav 
 ing any Federalists in office, but these are softening down to 
 moderation, while in the other states generally the course 
 which has been pursued, altho thought to have gone too far 
 into removal, is acquiesced in and on the whole approved. 
 We laid it down as a principal, in the beginning, that the 
 Federalists had a right to a participation of office proportioned 
 to their numbers ; they in fact professed all. We removed a 
 few in marked cases ; we determined to remove all others who 
 should take an active and bitter part against the order of 
 things established by the public bill. Removals for this cause 
 and for other delinquencies, resignations, and deaths have 
 nearly given us our full proportion of office in all the States 
 except Massachusetts. I speak of these offices only which are 
 given by the President himself; the subordinate ones are left to 
 their principals. At present, therefore, as from an early period 
 of the administration, political principle, unless producing active 
 opposition, is not a ground for removal, altho it is as yet a 
 bar to appointment, until the just proportion is fully restored. 
 A letter begun with a view to cover a few deeds, and to say 
 a word about elections, has led to a length not at first contem 
 plated. Desirous, however, that the principles of our proceed 
 ings should be understood, I explain them to no one more 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 willingly than yourself, because I am sure you will use them with 
 prudence and sincerity for the information and satisfaction of 
 others when occasions may lead you to an expression of senti 
 ment. Should it be the means of giving me the advantage of 
 receiving communications sometimes from you on the politi 
 cal state of things in your quarter, it will contribute to that 
 information so desirable to myself, and so necessary to enable 
 me to do what is best for the public interest. I pray you to 
 accept my salutations, and utterances of esteem and respect. 
 
 TH. JEFFERSON. 
 
 Peter s influence was extended and widely felt ; and 
 had he any personal ambition, there is no position 
 in the power of the State to give that he could not 
 have obtained, if he had manifested any desire for it. 
 Although Freneau was so well fitted for the position 
 of an editor, he was not so well qualified for that of 
 a proprietor, as he was nothing of a business man ; 
 and his friend adds that it would be difficult to say, 
 at times which was in the greatest confusion, his 
 private affairs or those of the establishment. Over 
 two hundred more papers than were needed were 
 printed daily, and made way with by the slaves attached 
 to the office. In the year 1810 he gave the paper into 
 the hands of his friend Mr. Thomas, and was after 
 that time Director of the State Bank. After the paper 
 had passed from his hands, his intimate friend Charles 
 Cotesworth Pinckney and Colonel Lehre met at his 
 house, as they were accustomed to do pending election, 
 but this time it was for a special purpose. Knowing 
 how impossible it was for Peter ever to say no, they 
 asked him to request Mr. Thomas, the acting editor 
 of the paper, to uphold a certain candidate they were 
 desirous of having elected ; and they took this way of 
 accomplishing their end, conscious of the unwillingness 
 of the editor to further the candidacy, yet also knowing 
 that he could never refuse his friend anything that he 
 asked of him. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Freneau for some years held the office of Commis 
 sioner of Loans for the State of South Carolina ; and 
 was several times member of the State Legislature, in 
 which his services were said to be alike creditable to 
 himself and useful to the State. Desirous of knowing 
 how long he filled the position of Secretary of State, 
 we applied to the corresponding secretary of the South 
 Carolina Historical Society, and received in reply : 
 " Concerning Peter Freneau, once an honored citizen 
 of this State, I gather that he was Secretary of State in 
 the years from 1788 to 94 inclusive; 1 there is no list 
 of State officers for 1795, anc ^ a new name appears in 
 the office for 1796. So long a tenure of office as was 
 that of your honored relative Peter Freneau is very 
 uncommon," etc. 
 
 Peter s inability to say no, and his readiness to oblige 
 his friends, frequently got him into serious diffi 
 culties, as he too often went security for them and 
 was thereby the loser. It was owing to this virtue, or 
 fault, according to the different ways of viewing it, that 
 he for the first time in his life was known to lose his 
 wonted cheerfulness. An old and dear friend had 
 indorsed his paper, and he became alarmed lest this 
 friend should suffer on his account. He called upon 
 an intimate acquaintance and informed him that the 
 note would go to protest that day, as he was unable to 
 meet it unless the former could loan him the money 
 for the present. His friend, not having the amount 
 on hand, promised it the next day and invited Peter 
 to dine with him, which invitation Freneau refused. 
 Something in his manner attracted the attention of the 
 other, and he shortly after called at Freneau s office. 
 Entering softly, he was not perceived until he laid his 
 hand upon Peter s shoulder. The latter was absorbed 
 in his writing, and, starting, looked up into his visitor s 
 face. Four notes lay folded upon the desk, the upper 
 
 1 Freneau held the office eight years altogether. 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 one being addressed to the visitor. In a moment the 
 intention of Freneau flashed upon his friend, but he 
 pretended not to notice anything, saying quietly, cc Fre 
 neau, give me your word of honor that I shall find you 
 here one hour hence," adding, " I am on my way to 
 the notary s." Peter s face evinced how a mighty 
 mind could be shaken and even overcome by the 
 tempest of adversity, but he gave the desired promise. 
 The friend hastened to the bank and had the note de 
 layed until the next day, and hurried back to Freneau s 
 office. The note had disappeared, and in a slight de 
 gree the old cheerfulness had returned. His friend 
 remained with him till late, avoiding any allusion to 
 what had happened, merely saying that all would be 
 satisfactorily arranged in the morning ; and the serious 
 danger with which his friend was threatened was never 
 known, and he adds, " he lived to be the delight of 
 his friends for several years." 
 
 With talents fitted for any station, his friend tells 
 us, he nevertheless wished to retire from active life 
 that he might be able to enjoy seclusion and the 
 society of his books and friends in peace ; conse 
 quently he began to build a cottage in the interior of 
 the State, intending to spend there the remainder of 
 his days. Desirous of visiting the workmen, although 
 dissuaded by his friends, he went there, trusting to the 
 perfect condition of his health to insure him against 
 the dangers of the miasma, so fatal at that time of the 
 year. He remained there over a week, and returned 
 apparently in perfect health, and with his usual flow 
 of spirits, but was soon after taken very ill. The de 
 voted attention of his friends and the best medical 
 advice were of no avail ; he was constantly watched by 
 the daughter of one of his old friends, but Death had 
 marked him for his prey, and on the fifth day he 
 succumbed. His strong constitution was so completely 
 exhausted that for some time before his death he did 
 
 ["] [ 145 ] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 not utter a groan or even sigh, and scarcely seemed 
 to breathe ; and " thus ended the life of a man, who, 
 to transcendent talents united that amiability of tem 
 per and benevolence of heart that made him the friend 
 of his race." 
 
 "This all who knew him know, 
 
 This all who loved him tell, 
 Whose like we ne er shall look upon again." 
 
 In appearance, Freneau resembled to such a remark 
 able degree the great British statesman Fox that a 
 friend purposely brought a portrait of the latter with 
 him on his return from England to deceive his ac 
 quaintances ; who, knowing Freneau s aversion to sit 
 ting for his portrait, would exclaim upon seeing it on 
 the mantelpiece, " How did you come by Freneau s 
 portrait ? " and not alone in physique did Peter re 
 semble the great statesman, but in his mental calibre 
 also. In height he was six feet two inches, and of 
 such perfect proportions and beauty of countenance 
 that one would say " every god did seem to set his 
 seal to give the world assurance of a man." 
 
 Mr. Thomas, his devoted friend, took charge of 
 his funeral, which was largely attended, and he was 
 buried in the French Huguenot church in Charleston. 
 His epitaph reads : 
 
 " Whatever Omnipotence decides is right. 
 
 " Below this marble are deposited the remains of Peter Fre 
 neau, Esq. A native of New Jersey, but for more than thirty 
 years past a citizen of South Carolina. He was the second 
 son of Peter Freneau and Agnes Watson, born April 5th, 
 1757. Died Nov. 9th, A. D. 1813, ae. fifty-six years seven 
 months and four days. His upright and benevolent character 
 is in the memory of many, and will remain when this inscrip 
 tion is no longer legible. He was Secretary of State of South 
 Carolina eight years." 
 
 [ 146 ] 
 
Chapter Ninth 
 
 THE year 1789 was an important one in Fre- 
 neau s life, as during that period there occurred 
 two events that covered the entire course of 
 his future, the one shaping his private, and the 
 other his political life. 
 
 The first of these events was that of his marriage 
 with Eleanor, daughter of Samuel and Helen Denise 
 Forman, a prominent and wealthy family of New 
 Jersey, which had, and has since that time, given to 
 the country a galaxy of names which have reflected 
 honor on the land of their birth, and occupied prom 
 inent places on its roll of honor, in military as well 
 as civil affairs. 
 
 Eleanor s two brothers and cousin served in the 
 Revolutionary War, the latter, General David For 
 man, being familiarly known as " Black David, on 
 account of his excessive severity towards those who 
 did not favor the Revolution. This officer ably com 
 manded the New Jersey militia in the battle of Ger- 
 mantown, which engagement, in reality a defeat, was 
 considered as advantageous to the Americans as a 
 victory. In it the genius of Washington and the 
 bravery and discipline of the army showed to such 
 advantage as to rank it in the eyes of all Europe as 
 nearly on an equality with the surrender of Burgoyne, 
 and as to cause Frederic of Prussia to acknowledge 
 the formidable power the American army might be 
 come, as well as to decide the French Court to con 
 sider us as allies. 1 After the war General Forman 
 
 1 John Fiske, in Atlantic Monthly. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 was a member of the Council of State, and Judge of 
 the County Court. He was also one of the original 
 members of the Order of The Cincinnati. 
 
 Eleanor s eldest brother, Colonel Jonathan For- 
 man, married a sister of Colonel William Ledyard, 
 of whom we have spoken in the preceding chapter ; 
 their grandchildren were Horatio Seymour, who mar 
 ried into the Bleecker family, and was several times 
 Governor of New York State, and a candidate for the 
 Presidency, 1 and John Seymour, who married in the 
 Tappan family ; his granddaughters married, the one, 
 Judge Miller of Utica ; another, Roscoe Conkling ; and, 
 a third her cousin, Ledyard Lincklaen, whose daughter 
 married Charles S. Fairchild, Secretary of the Treasury 
 during Cleveland s first administration. 
 
 Eleanor Freneau s second brother, Captain Denise 
 Forman, married into the Kearny family to which 
 Philip s step-father belonged. This family, trebly re 
 lated to Freneau, gave Major-General Philip Kearny 2 
 to the country. The daughter of Eleanor s third 
 brother, Major Samuel Forman, married General 
 Rensselaer Van Rensselaer, and her eldest sister, Cath 
 erine, married Colonel William Ledyard, thus forming 
 a double connection with that family. Catherine s 
 eldest son, Major Benjamin Ledyard, married the 
 daughter of Freneau s old college-mate, Brockholst 
 Livingston, and consequently the niece of John Jay s 
 wife ; and his son 3 married a daughter of General Cass. 
 Catherine s other grandchildren formed double rela- 
 
 1 Governor Thomas Seymour of Connecticut was also a relative. 
 
 2 Philip Kearny married Susan, daughter of John Watts and Jane 
 Golden a sister of Cadwallader Golden. This John Watts was son of 
 John Watts senior and Ann Delancey ; Philip was father of General Philip 
 Kearny. 
 
 8 A son of this gentleman is now President of the Michigan Central 
 Railroad, viz., Mr. Henry Ledyard, father of the Baroness Von Kettler, 
 whose husband was killed in China, when minister to that country from 
 Germany. 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 tionships with the families of Seymour and Fairchild ; 
 and another of them married into the Fitzhugh family ; 
 and through their child, a triple connection was formed 
 with the Seymour family. 
 
 Eleanor s second sister, Margaret, married Major 
 Burrows. Major Gordon, a graduate of Princeton 
 College of the class of 1786, was likewise a relative of 
 hers. Eleanor is said to have been distinguished for 
 her well informed mind, sprightliness of disposition, 
 elegance of manner, affability, and excellent conver 
 sational powers ; and she is said to have retained these 
 qualities, as well as much of her personal beauty, to 
 her old age. She was intimately acquainted with many 
 distinguished personages, and was a charming hostess, 
 in her husband s residence at Mount Pleasant as 
 well as in Philadelphia. Mrs. Freneau had a poetic 
 taste and wrote with ease ; her compositions are said 
 to have been distinguished by character and intelli 
 gence. She corresponded for some time before her 
 marriage with Freneau in verse. An amusing anecdote 
 is told of her sprightliness before her marriage. In 
 one of Freneau s visits she left him to entertain the 
 other members of the family, and, slipping from the 
 room while he was thus engaged, she dexterously 
 sheared off some of the superfluous capes attached to 
 his outer garment, such as we have already spoken of 
 as having been in vogue ; whether they were displeas 
 ing to her as being old-fashioned, or for some other 
 reason, she probably stated in the verses in which she 
 commemorated the feat, and which she enclosed to 
 him. Her writings were consumed in the conflagra 
 tion at Mount Pleasant, but in a paper of the day * is 
 found an extract from a letter of hers to her brother 
 Samuel, he having removed with his family, consisting 
 of his wife and one child who afterwards married 
 General Van Rensselaer, to central New York. 
 
 1 Evening Post. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 " I am forever thinking of you and our other dear friends 
 in that new country. 1 Had you and they been situated nearer 
 together, and nearer to me, I should then care more for the 
 world than I do. My two little girls and books are my chief 
 comforters. I wish it was in my power to send you out as 
 good a collection of the latter as we have here. You would 
 not feel the loss of friendship and the want of company as 
 much as you do. We must endeavor to make ourselves as 
 independent of the world as possible, and let our own minds 
 furnish us with that pleasure which too many are in search of 
 abroad. ... I know you will make the best use of your soli 
 tude. Mr. Freneau joins me in much love to you." 2 
 
 The second great event of the year 1789 was the 
 adoption of the Constitution, and its consequence, the 
 inauguration of Washington as the first President of 
 the United States. In one of the centennial publica 
 tions in the year 1809, it was said that the President 
 elect was met at Elizabethtown by a joint committee 
 of Congress and escorted to New York, and that 
 Philip Freneau, who afterward, as editor of the 
 " National Gazette," made it hot for the Washington 
 administration, accompanied the party across the bay, 
 and in the excitement of the occasion probably huzzahed 
 with the loudest. Another version is that he came up 
 the bay from Charleston on the day of the proces 
 sion, but he would not run up his colors in honor of 
 the event. As the subject is an open one, we leave 
 our readers to believe which they choose ; we prefer 
 the former. Upon the attendant ceremony it was 
 Freneau s relative, the Right Reverend Samuel Provost, 
 that conducted the religious services in old Saint Paul s 
 Church. 3 
 
 1 Cayuga and Cazenovia Lakes. 
 
 2 This brother died in Syracuse, New York, in 1862. 
 
 8 It is said that when the question of holding services on the day of the 
 inauguration was agitated and Bishop Provost was appealed to on the sub 
 ject, he said that he had always been used to look up to the Government 
 upon such occasions, and he thought it prudent not to do anything till 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Although the oath of office was administered, and 
 the Constitution went into operation the last day of 
 April, it was not until the fall of the year that any 
 important step was taken. After the Cabinet and 
 judges of the Supreme Court were chosen, the next 
 matter was to decide upon the location of the future 
 capital of the nation. New York was not willing to 
 cede the amount of territory required, therefore it was 
 decided to remove to Philadelphia for the period of 
 ten years. 
 
 A certain writer, 1 in praising Philadelphia, and after 
 enumerating all the various ports at which she traded, 
 her schools, and other advantages, adds : "In fact, 
 there may be obtained the knowledge of the arts and 
 sciences, and here may be had, on any day of the 
 week, tarts, pies, cake, etc. ; and no jealousy amongst 
 men, and no old maids." It seems quite evident, after 
 this panegyric, why Congress selected this favored city 
 in which to hold its sessions. Undoubtedly the an 
 ticipation of regaling themselves in their recesses upon 
 the tarts, pies, etc., had great weight with those upon 
 whom the selection devolved ; and does not the fact 
 go to prove that in reality woman was the factor that 
 transformed this charming city of cc Brotherly Love " 
 into the city of Brotherly Discord it eventually 
 became, and of introducing some jealous men into it ? 
 for a writer has said, " Man is what he eats, and woman 
 is the caterer." Tarts, pies, and cake were the 
 modern apple, the fair caterer the modern Eve ; and, 
 tempting the modern Adam, <c he did eat ; " and the 
 modern Eden became a modern Babel. 
 
 However it was, Congress in removing itself to 
 other quarters greatly discomfited the residents of 
 
 they knew what Government would direct. Eben Hazard, hearing this, 
 said : " If the good bishop never prays without an order from Govern 
 ment it is not probable that the kingdom of heaven will suffer much from 
 his violence." (Bowen, in Century Magazine.) 
 1 Gabriel Thomas. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 New York City. No more public fetes and court 
 balls ; no more state pageants and processions ; no 
 more president, senators, or legislature. Freneau, too, 
 was disappointed, as he had made arrangements to 
 edit a paper in New York, called " The Daily Adver 
 tiser," but it would seem from a letter written by him 
 to Madison, dated July 25, 1791, that the latter had 
 offered him some inducements to go to Philadel 
 phia. Freneau writes from Middletown Point, New 
 Jersey, saying that he is detained there- by some 
 pressing business, but that if he should meet Madison 
 upon his return to New York, which would be in a 
 few days, he would then give him a definite answer 
 relative to printing his paper at the seat of govern 
 ment, instead of in New York as he had intended. 
 Freneau eventually succeeded in exchanging the " Ad 
 vertiser" for the "National Gazette" of Philadelphia, 
 and the first number appeared under his direction in 
 October of the year 1791. 
 
 The revenues of the country had been well drained 
 for the expenses of the war, and the indebtedness of 
 the States amounted to eighty million dollars, an 
 immense debt for an impoverished country. The 
 princely fortune of Robert Morris had gone to pay 
 his country s debts, and the fortunes of many others 
 had gone in the same way. Affairs were bordering 
 on bankruptcy, the colonial currency had depreciated 
 to a few cents on the dollar, and the treasury existed 
 only in name. Literary work, not being an absolute 
 necessity, was below par ; and, as we know, the loss of 
 his fine ship, the " Aurora," had sadly crippled the 
 resources of Freneau, who had now a family to 
 support, and an estate and slaves to maintain. It 
 may have been to add something to his small editorial 
 revenue that he accepted the proposition to become 
 foreign translator to the Department of State, with the 
 paltry salary of two hundred and fifty dollars per 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 annum. It may have been, as some thought, that he 
 accepted the position through some political motive. 
 Amongst the Jefferson papers one may find the pro 
 posal made Freneau in the handwriting of, and signed 
 by, the Secretary of State ; it runneth thus : 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, Feb. z8, 1791. 
 
 SIR, The clerkship for foreign languages in my office is 
 vacant ; the salary, indeed, is very low, being but two hundred 
 and fifty dollars a year; but also it gives so little to do as not 
 to interfere with any other calling one may chuse, which 
 would not absent him from the seat of government. I was 
 told a few days ago that it might, perhaps, be convenient to 
 you to accept it, if so, it is at your service. It requires no 
 other qualification than a moderate knowledge of French. 
 Should anything better turn up within my department that 
 might suit you, I should be very happy to bestow it as well. 
 Should you conclude to accept the position, you may consider 
 it as engaged to you, only be so good as to drop me a line 
 informing me of your resolution. 
 
 I am, with great esteem, sir, 
 
 Your very humble servt. 
 
 TH. JEFFERSON. 
 
 Freneau s appointment appears amongst the State 
 papers, dated August 16, 1791, signed by Jefferson ; 
 below which, in Freneau V Handwriting, appear these 
 significative words : " I hereby resign the same ap 
 pointment from October first, 1793." He had held 
 the office two years, one month, and fifteen days. 
 
 In a Philadelphia paper of the times appeared the 
 following paragraph : " Thomas Jefferson Esq., Secre 
 tary of State for the United States, has appointed 
 Captain Philip Freneau, interpreter of the French 
 language for the Department of State." It seems that 
 Philadelphia no longer lacked "jealousy amongst 
 men," for an outcry was raised immediately. C A 
 combination between an editor of a journal and the 
 Secretary of State !" And they did not let any time 
 
 [* ] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 pass without letting Freneau feel the weight of their 
 displeasure. 
 
 "The circumstance of your having come from 
 another state to set up and conduct a state paper ; the 
 circumstance of the editor of that new paper being 
 appointed a clerk in the Department of State ; the 
 coincidence in point of time of that appointment with 
 the commencement of your paper, or to speak more 
 correctly its precedency the conformity between 
 the complexion of your paper and the known politics 
 of the head of the department who employed you 
 these circumstances, collectively, leave no doubt of 
 your true situation ; the connection arising from them 
 is too strong to be weakened by any of those bold or 
 even solemn declarations which are among the hack 
 neyed tricks employed by the purists in politics of 
 every country and age to cheat the people into a 
 belief of their superior sanctity, integrity, and virtue. 
 If you had been previously the conductor of a news 
 paper in this city if your appointment had been any 
 considerable time subsequent to the institution of 
 your paper there might have been some reason for 
 subterfuge, but as matters stand, you have no pos 
 sible escape." 
 
 We all know that at the time of the framing of the 
 Constitution the political world was divided into two 
 antagonistic parties : the one calling themselves Feder 
 alists, who believed in centralization, and the other, 
 anti-Federalists or Republicans (the name of Democrat 
 then being given only by way of reproach), who 
 believed in decentralization. 
 
 The former party had adopted as their platform 
 the principles of a close and lasting union between the 
 States, and a compact form of government invested 
 with authority by the State, and not by the individuals 
 of which it was composed. The English Constitution 
 being in their opinion the nearest to perfect ever 
 
 I 54 } 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 planned, they deemed it the most desirable one upon 
 which to form the Constitution of the United States. 
 They desired that the President should be elected for 
 life upon good behavior ; and that the senators and 
 the governors of the different States should be selected 
 by the Senate. They wished the Senate and House of 
 Representatives to make the laws, and the President 
 to execute them, and that the latter should have the 
 power to veto the Acts of the State Legislatures. 
 They desired restricted suffrage, the encouragement 
 of foreign commerce and domestic manufacture, the 
 latter protected by tariff. They deemed it necessary 
 to have a powerful standing army, and desired a dip 
 lomatic service like that of Europe, and that there 
 should be great formality along with the etiquette of 
 the foreign courts, which they thought necessary to 
 insure respect for authority. This party comprised 
 those who inclined to England through kinship, lan 
 guage, and hatred of France. 
 
 The anti-Federalists, or Republicans, desired to pre 
 serve the independence of the several States, and 
 advocated unity in regard to foreign matters, but 
 plurality in home affairs. They wished to retain the 
 Plan of Confederation, altering it to suit the present 
 state of affairs and present needs. They thought such 
 a centralization of power as the Federalists desired 
 would rob the individual States of their sovereignty, 
 and clothe the President with too much power, leaving 
 the people too unprotected. They advocated the ex 
 tension of suffrage, and the encouragement of agricul 
 ture and internal trade, rather than foreign commerce. 
 They preferred the employment of well drilled militia 
 instead of standing armies, and advocated simplicity 
 and economy in the government, and the doing away 
 with all monarchial forms; also open sessions of Con 
 gress. They charged the Federals with the design of 
 establishing a monarchy on the ruins of the republican 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 form of government, and they even thought to see 
 embodied in their plan certain principles which might 
 sustain this charge. They inclined to France, as hav 
 ing come to our assistance in time of need, and hated 
 England because of her injustice and unnatural con 
 duct towards her colonies, and harsh treatment of her 
 colonial subjects. 
 
 The Federalists were in the majority and were de 
 fended by Alexander Hamilton, who was of foreign 
 birth, and, although free from State prejudices in a con 
 siderable degree, still evinced a repugnance to a re 
 publican form of government. His sympathies were 
 pre-eminently with England. 
 
 Franklin had been the originator of the Plan of 
 Confederation ; it had been his ruling idea for a re 
 publican form of government since before the Revolu 
 tion, and he desired its continuance in a modified form. 
 
 The strife between the two parties for the shaping 
 of the Constitution ran high, and very probably there 
 has been nothing equal to it in the history of America. 
 
 From this strife arose a third party ; for many feared 
 that such a vast amount of power centralized in one 
 person might lead to despotism, yet they were desir 
 ous of having a closer bond of union between the 
 States than would exist under the Plan of Confedera 
 tion. Of this party Madison was the founder, and 
 his plan combined the views of the other parties, and 
 is the basis of our present Constitution. 
 
 All three parties felt the truth expressed in these 
 words of James Wilson, although their several appli 
 cations of them differed somewhat : 
 
 "We are laying the foundation of a building in 
 which millions are interested, and which is to last for 
 ages. In laying one stone amiss we may injure the 
 superstructure, and what will be the consequences if 
 the corner-stone should be loosely placed ? " 
 
 Jefferson was in France at the time, and had no 
 
 [ 56 ] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 part in the framing of the Constitution ; but he was 
 known to have opposed it in its origin, and his adver 
 saries did not hesitate to make known the fact at the 
 time of his supposed coalition with the editor of the 
 "National Gazette." 
 
 u It is a fact," they wrote, " which the debates in the Vir 
 ginia Convention will testify, that Mr. Jefferson was, in the 
 origin, opposed to the present Constitution of the United 
 States. It is a fact known to every man who approaches that 
 officer (for he takes no pains to conceal it and will not thank 
 you to deny it), that he arraigns the principal measures of the 
 government and it may be added with indecent if not indiscreet 
 warmth." 
 
 And he was brought to task pretty severely for con 
 ferring an office in his department upon an editor of 
 a paper. It was said to be " an experiment somewhat 
 new in the history of political manoeuvre in the coun 
 try ;" and again, that " a connection between the editor 
 of a paper and a head of a department of the govern 
 ment is indelicate and unfit^ and consequently of a 
 nature to justify suspicion/* 
 
 In his reply to a letter from Washington, in which 
 the latter seems to have reproached him for this con 
 nection, Jefferson makes some very sarcastic allusions 
 to the Secretary of the Treasury, whom he seems to 
 hold accountable for the reproach, and then goes on to 
 say : 
 
 " When we removed to Philadelphia, Mr. Pintard, the trans 
 lating clerk, did not choose to remove with us ; his office then 
 became vacant. I was applied to there, for Freneau, and had 
 no hesitation to promise the clerkship for him. I cannot rec 
 ollect whether it was at the time or afterwards, that I was 
 told he had a thought of setting up a newspaper there ; but 
 whether then or afterwards, I considered it a circumstance of 
 some value, as it might enable me to do what I had long 
 
 [-T57] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 wished to have done ; that is, to have the material parts of the 
 c Leyden Gazette brought under your eye and that of the public, 
 in order to possess yourself and them of a juster view of the 
 affairs of Europe than could be obtained from any other public 
 source. This I had ineffectually attempted through the press 
 of Mr. Fenno while in New York, selecting and translating 
 passages myself at first, then having it done by Mr. Pintard, 
 the translating clerk. But they found their way too slowly 
 into Freneau s papers. 
 
 " Mr. Bache essayed it for me in Philadelphia ; but his, 
 being a daily paper, did not circulate sufficiently in the other 
 States. He even tried, at my request, the plan of a weekly 
 paper of recapitulation, from his daily paper, in hopes that 
 that might go into the other States ; but in this too we failed. 
 Mr. Freneau as translator, and the editor of a periodical paper 
 likely to circulate through the States (uniting in one person 
 the parts of Pintard and Fenno), served my hopes that the 
 thing could at length be effected. 
 
 lt On the establishment of his paper, therefore, I furnished 
 him with the Leyden Gazettes/ with an expression of my 
 own wish that he would always translate and publish the 
 material intelligence they contained ; and I have continued to 
 furnish them from time to time, as regularly as I received 
 them. But as to any other direction or indication of my wish, 
 how his press should be conducted, what sort of intelligence 
 he should give, what essays encourage, I can protest in the 
 presence of Heaven, that I never did, by myself or through any 
 other, directly or indirectly, say a syllable nor attempt any kind 
 of influence. I can further protest in the same awful presence, 
 that I never did, by myself or any other, directly or indirectly, 
 write, dictate, or procure any one sentiment or sentence to be 
 inserted in his or any other gazette, to which my name was not 
 affixed, or that of my office. 1 
 
 " I surely need not except here a thing so foreign to the 
 present subject as a little paragraph about our Algerine cap 
 tives, which I put once into Fenno s paper. Freneau s prop 
 osition to publish a paper having been about the time that 
 the writings of c Publicola, and the discourses on Davila had 
 
 1 This letter was written in 1792, a year before Freneau retired from 
 the editorship of the paper. 
 
NUM 7 ?ofVoi 
 
 S A T U R D A Y. July 6, 1793. [Total Me*.. , 7 6.] 
 
 {frN.tK>n.lC.*rur 
 
 FACSIMILE OF NATIONAL GAZETTE 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 a good deal excited the public attention, I took for granted 
 from Freneau s character, which had been marked as that of a 
 good Whig, that he would give free place to pieces written 
 against the aristocratical and monarchical principles these 
 papers had inculcated. 
 
 "This having been in my mind, it is likely enough I may 
 have expressed it in conversation with others, though I do not 
 recollect that I did ; to Freneau I think I could not, because I 
 had still seen him but once, and that was at a public table at 
 breakfast at Mrs. Ellsworth s, as I passed through New York 
 the last year; and I can safely declare that my expectations 
 looked only to the chastisement of the aristocratical and mo 
 narchical writers, and not to any criticisms on the proceedings 
 of the government. Colonel Hamilton can see no motive for 
 any appointment but that of making a convenient partisan ; 
 but you, Sir, who have received from me recommendations of 
 a Rittenhouse, Barlow, Paine, will believe that talent and 
 science are sufficient motives with me in appointments to 
 which they are fitted, and that Freneau, as a man of genius, 
 might find a preference in my eye to be a translating clerk, 
 and make good title, moreover, to the little aids I could give 
 him as the editor of a gazette, by procuring subscriptions to 
 his paper as I did, some before it appeared, and as I have 
 with pleasure done for the labors of men of genius. As 
 to the merits or demerits of his paper, they certainly concern 
 me not. He and Fenno are rivals for the public favor. 
 The latter courts them by flattery, the former by censure, 
 and I believe it will be admitted that the latter has been as 
 servile as the former severe. But is not the dignity and even 
 decency of government committed when one of its principal 
 ministers enlists himself as an anonymous writer, or para- 
 graphist, for either the one or the other of them ? No 
 government ought to be without censors; and where the press 
 is free, no one ever will. If virtuous it need not fear the fair 
 operation of attack and defence ; nature has given to man no 
 other means of sifting out the truth, either in religion, law, 
 or politics. I think it as honorable to the government neither 
 to know nor notice its sycophants or censors as it would be 
 undignified and criminal to pamper the former and persecute 
 the latter." 
 
 \*59\ 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 It was a time of fierce political excitement ; the new 
 Constitution not being in fair working order, was 
 consequently exposed in its weakest point, that of 
 its infancy, to the attack of its adversaries. The 
 " National Gazette " is said to have been, under Fre 
 neau, a powerful political paper ; and for Jefferson to 
 have such a powerful machine with which to fling his 
 weapons at the heads of the government did not 
 appear a very agreeable prospect to the opposite party. 
 In speaking of the keenness and readiness of these 
 weapons, Mr. Benjamin says, " What Tyrtaeus was to 
 the Spartans, was Freneau to the Republicans or anti- 
 Federalists." Certainly he did a work, and a great 
 one in his own way, for often what can be accom 
 plished by no other means may be by ridicule, wit, 
 and irony ; and these Freneau could always bring to 
 his aid. The first, a German critic has compared 
 to a blow of the fist, the second to the irritating 
 prick of a needle, and the third to the prick of a 
 thorn. 
 
 In 1791 the Secretary of the Treasury proposed a 
 " Bank of the United States," but this plan Jefferson 
 violently opposed, deeming it unconstitutional and 
 of a dangerous character, considering the feeling then 
 existing in the Southern States ; but Hamilton carried 
 his point, and the bank was chartered in the same year, 
 with ten million dollars as capital. The anti-Federal 
 ists were much opposed to this bank, and Freneau, 
 who was always able, when pressed, to bring his muse 
 to his aid, composed some doggerel for the occasion; 
 it probably served to let off" a little of his surplus 
 steam : 
 
 " George, on thy virtues often have I dwelt, 
 And still the theme is grateful to mine ear. 
 Thy gold let chemists ten times over smelt, 
 From dross and base alloy they 11 find it clear. 
 
 [f6o] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Yet thou rt a man, although perhaps the first, 
 
 But man at best is but a being frail ; 
 
 And since with error human nature s curst, 
 
 I marvel not that thou shouldst sometimes fail. 
 
 That thou hast long and nobly served the state, 
 
 The nation owns and freely gives thee thanks; 
 
 But Sir ! whatever speculators prate 
 
 She gave thee not the power to stablish banks." 
 
 Nevertheless, the " Bank of the United States" con 
 tinued until President Jackson s time ; but he, having 
 always been its implacable enemy, vetoed the renewal 
 of the charter in 1831; and at its expiration in 1836 it 
 died the death, involving many interested in it. This 
 act of Jackson s was considered a stroke of wisdom, 
 but Freneau did not live to see it accomplished ; he 
 died the year before the renewal of the charter was 
 vetoed. 
 
 One of the criticisms to which the newly framed 
 Constitution was subjected was that of developing as 
 much of a monarchical form of government, as well as 
 its etiquette, as was possible. It was well known that 
 the Secretary of the Treasury was in favor of curtailing 
 State sovereignty and investing the federal authority 
 with as great an amount of prestige as was consistent 
 with a republican form of government ; and that the 
 Vice-President, according to his own words, considered 
 the c< love of superiority and desire of distinction, admi 
 ration, and applause the great springs of human activity, 
 at least in all that related to politics, and that no govern 
 ment could be secure or permanent which did not pro 
 vide for the reasonable gratification as well as for the 
 due restraint of this principal passion ; and that there 
 fore a certain mixture of aristocracy and monarchy 
 was necessary to that balance of interests and senti 
 ments without which free governments could not exist." 
 It was also well known that the chief magistrate in 
 clined to English etiquette, as well as towards govern- 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 ment ceremonial. His intercourse with Congress was 
 modelled upon that of the English kings, being in 
 person, a committee having first perfected all the 
 attendant ceremonies. 
 
 Washington has given us a description of the cere 
 monial. He drove there, he writes, 
 
 u in a coach drawn by six horses preceded by Colonel Hum 
 phrey and Major Johnson, in uniform, on my two white 
 horses, and followed by Messrs. Lear and Nelson iq my chariot, 
 Mr. Lewis on horseback following them. In their rear was 
 the Chief Justice of the United States and the secretaries of 
 the Treasury and War Department (Hamilton and Knox) in 
 their respective carriages, and in the order they are named. 
 At the outer door I was met by the doorkeepers of the Senate 
 and House and was conducted to the door of the Senate cham 
 ber, and passing from thence to the chair, through the Senate 
 on the right and the House on the left, I took my seat. 
 
 u The gentlemen who attended me followed and took their 
 stand behind the senators, the whole rising as I entered. After 
 being seated, at which time the members of both Houses also 
 sat, I rose, as they also did, and made my speech, delivering 
 one copy to the President of the Senate and another to the 
 speaker of the House of Representatives, after which and being 
 a few minutes seated, I retired, bowing on each side to the 
 assembly (who stood) as I passed, and, descending to the lower 
 hall, attended as before, I returned with them to my house." 
 
 Mr. Peter Gerard Stuyvesant, at a banquet in 1839, 
 said that Washington seldom walked in the street; 
 his public recreation was in riding. When accompanied 
 by Mrs. Washington, he rode in a carriage drawn by 
 six Virginia bays with two outriders, who wore rich 
 livery, cocked hats with cockades, and powder. When 
 he rode on horseback he was accompanied by one or 
 more of the gentlemen of his family, and attended by 
 his outriders. The state carriage was of English make, 
 a very large cream-colored chariot of globular form, 
 surrounded by cupids supporting festoons of flowers 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 emblematically arranged around the panel-work ; the 
 whole being covered with best coach-glass. 
 
 This display, it has been remarked, had the effect 
 of repressing the spirits of those who approached the 
 chief magistrate, and many comments were passed upon 
 it, as it seemed to savor too much of the royalty which 
 had been banished from the land. Mr. Joseph Dennie, 
 the editor, remarked that " although the genius of our 
 government is republican, yet our conversation partakes 
 much of the old leaven of monarchy." The presi 
 dential levees and Mrs. Washington s parties people 
 thought " imitated too much the pomps and maxims 
 of the Court." Freneau held that Americans embrac 
 ing the new and republican form of government 
 should leave behind all that savored of the maxims 
 and prejudices of the old regime, and become identi 
 fied with the manner of life they profess to embrace ; 
 he therefore attacked all this ceremonial most unspar 
 ingly, going, it is said, sometimes beyond all bounds, 
 and consequently drawing upon himself the attacks of 
 the opposite party. 
 
 In 1792 Washington was a second time unanimously / 
 elected president; and he had scarcely entered upon his 
 second term of office in the spring of 93, when France 
 declared war with Holland ; and in April Washington 
 announced his intention of maintaining strict neu 
 trality; his proclamation to that effect provoked great 
 discussion. The French government, desirous of gain 
 ing the Americans to espouse its cause, appointed 
 Citizen Edmund Charles Genest, written in America 
 Genet, as ambassador to the United States ; for, al 
 though his father was attached to the Court of France, 
 and his sister, Madame Campan, was in the service of 
 Marie Antoinette, he had espoused the cause of the 
 republican party. Young Genet was already skilled 
 in the art of diplomacy, having studied it in the school 
 of his father; and he began to put it in practice 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 immediately upon his landing. He was received in 
 Charleston, at which port he landed, with the greatest 
 enthusiasm. His journey to the capital consumed an 
 entire month, and his progress was a complete ovation. 
 
 Upon reaching Gray s Ferry at Philadelphia, a large 
 portion of the population went out to meet and wel 
 come Genet, and he was conducted in triumph to the 
 city, where he was tendered an address congratulating 
 France upon obtaining the freedom she had helped 
 the United States to secure. In the evening a ban 
 quet was given in his honor, during the course of 
 which Freneau was requested to translate the French 
 ode written by Duponceau, the singing of which is 
 said to have been one of the items of the festival. 
 
 The French republic was looking anxiously to this 
 country for aid in its conflict with Europe, and espe 
 cially upon the ocean, where it was conducting an un 
 equal fight with Great Britain, whom it looked upon 
 as a mutual enemy; it therefore confidently expected 
 from the United States the assistance it had rendered 
 her in her time of need. Freneau, along with others, 
 was desirous of a coalition with France ; therefore, de 
 claring himself in favor of Genet, he threw himself 
 heart and soul into the projected plan of uniting the 
 two republics in a bond of brotherhood. To this plan, 
 however, Washington lent a deaf ear, and finding him 
 inflexible, Genet formed the audacious design of ap 
 pealing from the President to the people. 
 
 Encouraged by his warm reception in the country, 
 Genet strove to arouse sentiments of enthusiasm 
 towards France, notwithstanding the refusal of the 
 President; how he succeeded, the chaos into which 
 he threw the country can best describe. A sort of 
 insanity seemed to have taken possession of the most 
 serious minds, and even in the Cabinet there were 
 warm and violent discussions. Jefferson, fearing it 
 impossible to preserve neutrality considering the ill- 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 concealed bad will of England, thought it well to 
 secure a union with France, that in case of a rupture 
 we might look upon her as an ally. 
 
 Genet now audaciously empowered the French con 
 suls throughout the States to hold courts of admiralty, 
 and try and condemn prizes brought to port. He 
 also fitted out privateers, and commissioned officers, 
 and enlisted men in the interests of France. He 
 organized Jacobin clubs, and introduced the red cock 
 ade, and liberty-caps, in which Dr. Francis says he 
 himself delighted as an urchin to appear; and not 
 alone did urchins like him delight in them, but sedate 
 men like "Robert Goodloe Harper 1 appeared in the 
 bonnet rouge , with grace and dignity." Liberty-poles 
 crowned with red liberty-caps were also raised in the 
 public places. 
 
 The popular dislike to England now seemed deter 
 mined to assert itself. All that savored of that coun 
 try was ostracized, and in proportion arose an affection 
 for the struggling French republic. When the French 
 officers made their appearance, or their marines were 
 met in the streets, the boys would cry, " Vive la Re- 
 publique ! " At night the streets were musical with 
 La Marseillaise and La Carmagnole. Dr. Francis says 
 that he delighted to shout the latter at the top of his 
 voice while wearing the bonnet rouge. 
 
 I have never heard that Freneau donned one of these 
 caps, but the thing is not in the least improbable. 
 
 Many French people now came from their colonies, 
 and gave a new impetus to American simplicity. 
 Dress, manners, and customs were a la fran^aise. 
 Jewelry, ornaments, perfumes, and bonbons were of 
 French designs and make. French boarding-houses 
 hung out their signs, and French restaurants were all 
 the style ; they introduced the use of soups, salads, 
 ragouts, fricassees and olive oil ; and none but French 
 
 1 Son-in-law to Charles Carroll, of Carrolltou. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 bread could be tolerated. Even the English dances 
 were no longer in vogue, and the stately minuet gave 
 way to the lively cotillon, and public fetes were organ 
 ized. " In fact, it required," as John Fanning Wat 
 son remarked, " all the prudence of Washington to 
 stem the torrent of passion that flowed in favor of 
 France to the prejudice of our nationality." 
 
 Party spirit rose during this French period to such 
 a degree that intimate friends became the bitterest 
 enemies, and those who had formerly always exchanged 
 friendly greetings now crossed the street to avoid a 
 meeting. 
 
 In the midst of all this confusion, and in the heated 
 month of August, that dreadful scourge the yellow 
 fever broke out, and its malignancy spread terror in 
 all directions. The consternation which seized the 
 already highly excited population is said to be beyond 
 powers of description. Many fled from the city, and 
 those who remained shut themselves up in their 
 houses ; and when obliged to go into the streets they 
 walked in the middle of them to avoid, as much as 
 possible, the infected air of the houses ; a cold nod 
 of recognition was all that friends vouchsafed to each 
 other. Pedestrians carried in their hands tarred ropes 
 or kept them in their pockets ; some wore bags of 
 camphor on their persons; others chewed garlic, or 
 held handkerchiefs steeped in vinegar to their faces. 
 In the houses either gunpowder, tobacco, nitre, or 
 vinegar was kept burning, and men, women, and 
 children puffed at cigars continually. The outdoor 
 air was rendered lurid and heavy by the burning of 
 tar and tar-barrels in every street. 
 
 Dead bodies were constantly met with as they were 
 borne to some open grave, into which they were 
 dumped as quickly as possible, the graves or holes 
 being left open for the next body. The bodies of 
 most respectable persons were taken on the shafts of 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 a one-horse chaise, driven by a negro, to be dumped 
 like the rest. Those fortunate enough to be taken in 
 hearses were unattended, and at their sight every one 
 fled in consternation. Masters sent their servants 
 away on the first suspicion of the dreaded disease, and 
 servants abandoned their masters ; many persons died 
 from lack of care, and frequently dead bodies were 
 found in the streets. This dreadful state of affairs 
 lasted from the latter part of August till some time in 
 September. 
 
 Notwithstanding this terrible scourge, there was no 
 mitigation of party animosity ; and Greenleaf with his 
 " Argus," and Freneau with his " National Gazette," 
 only increased the general consternation. 
 
 Genet, by his imprudent measures, obliged Wash 
 ington to request his recall ; but he decided not to 
 return to France, and instead become a naturalized 
 citizen of the United States. He eventually married 
 the daughter of Governor Clinton, the anti-Federalist 
 Governor of New York State. This marriage was 
 celebrated in the Walton Mansion, as we stated in a 
 previous chapter. An article on Genet, which we are 
 not able to place, it being a fragment written in pencil, 
 but undoubtedly copied, runs : " I have spoken of 
 Genet with severity ; he labors under reproach by 
 every historian who has recorded his deeds, and by 
 none is he more chastised than by Judge Marshall ; 
 yet, withal, Genet possessed a kindly nature, was 
 exuberant in speech, of lively parts, and surcharged 
 with anecdotes. His intellectual culture was consider 
 able ; he was master of several living languages, a 
 proficient in music, as well as a skilful performer. To 
 remarks I made to him, touching his execution on the 
 piano, he subjoined : c I have given many hours daily 
 for twelve years to this instrument, and I now reach 
 some effective sounds/ He had a genius for mechan 
 ics, and after he had become an agriculturist in this 
 
 [167] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 country, wrote on machinery and on husbandry. He 
 assured me (in 1812) the time would arrive when his 
 official conduct as minister would be cleared of its 
 dark shades. To other shoulders/ said he, ( will be 
 transferred the odium I now bear. In a conversa 
 tion with him on the vicissitudes and events of the 
 French Revolution, he said : Their leaders were 
 novices ; had they been versed in Albany politics but 
 for three months, we would have escaped many trials, 
 and our patriotism been crowned with better results. 
 It is to be regretted that the papers of Genet have not 
 yet seen the light ; they embrace letters from Voltaire 
 and Rousseau, and years of correspondence with emi 
 nent American statesmen, down to the close of his 
 eventful life. He died at Jamaica, Long Island, in 
 1834, aged seventy-one years." 
 
 The troubles that grew out of this unhappy season 
 caused a rupture between Hamilton and Jefferson 
 that never died out, and was the origin of the two 
 political parties of Federalists and Republicans, which 
 were headed by their respective founders. 
 
 Washington was greatly annoyed at the course the 
 " National Gazette " had pursued throughout, and 
 Hamilton attacked Jefferson for his official support of 
 the troublesome editor, to which attack Jefferson replied 
 that a man should not be ostracized for his political 
 opinions, or for freedom of speech, and that his paper 
 had saved the Constitution which was galloping fast 
 into monarchy and had been stopped by no means so 
 powerful as by that paper, which had checked the 
 career of the monocrats. 
 
 Towards the close of this eventful year Jefferson 
 resigned his position in the Cabinet, and Freneau re 
 tired from the editorship of the Gazette. His work 
 had been of a pretty hot character, but it was directed 
 to the end for which he had, from the first, toiled and 
 struggled. Mr. Benjamin, in speaking of his efforts, 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 has said : " Amid all the excitement and warfare of 
 words which attended the adoption of the new Con 
 stitution, we observe one figure who, next to Washing 
 ton, Jefferson, and Hamilton, appears to assume a 
 prominence superior to that of all others engaged in 
 the political contest, not so much by the weight of 
 his intellect, as by his versatility and vivacity, and 
 the readiness and keenness of the weapons he brought 
 to the warfare; and in all the history of American 
 letters or of the United States press, there is no figure 
 more interesting or remarkable, no career more ver 
 satile and varied than that of Philip Freneau ; his mind 
 was highly original and independent, and his paper 
 spoke its mind without fear or favor, and even criti 
 cised the father of his country, whom many suspected 
 of monarchical tendencies. Jefferson declared that the 
 paper had saved the Constitution. In the c Gazette the 
 administration was arraigned in bitterest terms. The 
 paper was an immense political one under him. Some 
 thought it all for good, others all for evil." 
 
 It does not seem that, there was any personal feel 
 ing against Freneau ; even his adversaries said : " The 
 charges which have been brought against the editor 
 of the c National Gazette, as he himself states them to 
 be, are no otherwise personal charges than as they 
 designate the person against whom they are made. In 
 their application to Mr. Freneau, they affect him 
 solely in his capacity of editor of a public paper which 
 may justly be condemned in a public capacity and in 
 relation to matters of public or national concern." 
 
 In the American Encyclopaedia it is stated that in 
 later life Freneau had admitted that Jefferson was 
 the author of some violent articles against the govern 
 ment under Washington. It has also been stated that 
 Freneau had made an affidavit to the same effect as 
 Jefferson s letter to Washington in which he calls 
 upon Heaven to witness that he had never written, 
 
 [169] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 suggested, nor dictated any articles against the govern 
 ment that had not borne his signature. That letter 
 was dated 1792, and an article attacking Freneau s 
 affidavit was also dated the same year. Freneau s affi 
 davit and Jefferson s strong denial may have covered 
 the time up to which they were made, yet after that 
 event Jefferson may have written articles for the paper, 
 as it continued under Freneau until the end of Octo 
 ber, 1793. It is not at all probable that Freneau 
 would perjure himself even to save a friend dearer 
 than Jefferson. Through all Freneau s writings there 
 seems to be the greatest respect and veneration for the 
 name of the Almighty ; and his hatred of untruth or 
 insincerity in any form is well known ; it breathes 
 forth in almost every line of his poetry, and often to 
 his own prejudice. He could hardly have expressed 
 his open disgust of Rivington s duplicity, were he 
 guilty of false swearing. 
 
 It is pleasing to know that although Freneau bit 
 terly arraigned the government, and Washington s 
 policy, there was no personal feeling between himself 
 and Washington. Freneau always admired and praised 
 the latter s character, and he has dedicated several 
 poems to him ; he has mentioned him in highest terms 
 in others. 1 Even during the fierce times we have 
 related there appears one headed, 
 
 ON WASHINGTON, A TRULY GOOD MAN. 
 "Justum et tenacem propositi virum." 
 
 Freneau s daughter Agnes, Mrs. Edward Leadbeater, 
 over a decade of years deceased, remembered having 
 seen Washington at her father s house, and has several 
 
 1 Some satirical verses against Washington, signed, " Jonathan Pindar," 
 have been credited to Freneau, although it was proved that they were 
 written by George Tucker, editor of Blackstone s Commentaries," first 
 Am. edition. These verses unfortunately appeared in the * Gazette. 
 Tucker is well known as an author. 
 
 [ To] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 times, when a child, sat upon his lap. She related an 
 amusing story of an old slave in her father s family, 
 named Aunt Stine, who boasted of having been ad 
 dressed by Washington upon opening the door for 
 him, when calling upon her master. Mrs. Leadbeater s 
 oldest child having been born in Philadelphia, she was 
 returning with it to Mount Pleasant, Aunt Stine ac 
 companying her to carry the infant. They had taken 
 their seats in the public coach, when the postilion 
 called out that there was "a nigger inside/ which was 
 probably contrary to custom. Mrs. Leadbeater turned 
 to her stage companions, strangers to her, and said 
 that if her maid would not be allowed to ride inside 
 she herself would be obliged to leave the coach, as she 
 was not strong enough to carry the infant. Her com 
 panions at once expressed their perfect willingness to 
 enjoy Aunt Stine s company, and the latter, trium 
 phant in her victory, turned to the postilion, and said : 
 " Guess she d rode in better carriages than that old 
 coach ; guess she had ridden in General Washing 
 ton s carriage too." In telling the story her mistress 
 added, she supposed Aunt Stine had climbed into 
 the General s carriage upon one of his calls upon 
 her father. The same lady always resented it when 
 any one spoke of her father as being an enemy of 
 Washington. She said, on the contrary, he admired 
 and respected him, and always spoke of him in the 
 highest terms. It was only towards his policy that 
 he was inimical. 
 
 The same year as the withdrawal of Jefferson and 
 Freneau from political life, saw another excitement 
 before its close. George III. had given instructions 
 to British privateers to seize all neutral vessels found 
 trading in the French West Indies, but gave no 
 notification of the fact to the United States, and 
 American commerce was swept from the seas, to the 
 great loss of the Government, as well as private 
 
 l/7 J 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 individuals. Chief-Justice Jay was sent as envoy to 
 demand redress of the British Government, and made 
 a treaty with Lord Granville the following year, which 
 was ratified by the United States ; but it gave great 
 umbrage to many Americans, as they thought too 
 much had been conceded to the demands of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Washington having refused a third nomination, 
 Adams and Jefferson were nominated by the two op 
 posite parties ; Adams, having the greater number of 
 votes, took the presidential oath, and Jefferson, as was 
 then customary, became Vice-President. This election 
 was the outcome of the question whether the United 
 States should enter into intimate relations with France. 
 The President refused the offers of alliance, but the 
 Directory demanded it and the American minister, 
 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, was ordered to leave 
 the country. John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry were 
 directed to join Mr. Pinckney abroad, and along with 
 him endeavor to adjust matters peaceably ; but the 
 Directory refused to receive the ambassadors save 
 upon the payment of a quarter of a million dollars 
 into the treasury of France. To this demand Mr. 
 Pinckney replied that the United States had millions 
 for defence but not a cent for tribute ; consequently 
 they were all ordered to leave the country. 
 
 The adoption of the Alien and Sedition Acts, the first 
 authorizing the President to send foreigners out of the 
 country, threatened to lead to a great abuse of such 
 unlimited power in the hands of one man ; and the 
 second, which punished with imprisonment and fine 
 the freedom of speech of the press, savored of despot 
 ism, and caused the administration to become very 
 unpopular; so that in the following election party 
 spirit ran very high. Adams and Pinckney were 
 nominated by the Federals, and Jefferson and Aaron 
 Burr, Freneau s old classmate, by the Republicans. 
 
 L 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 The election being thrown on the House of Repre 
 sentatives, the choice fell upon Jefferson. Upon as 
 suming his position the President sent for Freneau 
 to come to the capital on " important business," and 
 like the philosopher of old the latter sent the verbal 
 reply : " Tell Thomas Jefferson that he knows where 
 Philip Freneau lives, and if he has important busi 
 ness with him/} let him come to Philip Freneau s 
 house and transact it." Jefferson then tendered 
 him an office, but Freneau declined. He had no 
 ambition for offices, his work was done ; he asked 
 for no recompense, and he cared not for thanks ; 
 he had done what he thought was his duty to his 
 country, and all he asked of it was to allow him to 
 live and die in peace. 
 
 In studying the character of Thomas Jefferson, it 
 would seem to be composed of two elements continu 
 ally opposed to each other, and rather unpleasant 
 ones to be united in the same person. By birth and 
 education he was certainly fitted to enjoy the first 
 society in America; endowed with tastes excessively 
 refined for those days, and with the instincts of a 
 European nobleman, he nevertheless discarded every 
 advantage his birthright gave, for the sake of his con 
 viction that no man was better than his neighbor; 
 and he mingled with common people as their equal. 
 At an early age the head of a large family, the ruling 
 mind of all he came in contact with, ceded the highest 
 place in school, college, home, and society, he was, 
 notwithstanding, an ardent lover of solitude. The 
 cherished member of a large circle of friends, wel 
 comed from his youth at the tables of the great, con 
 sidered an ornament to the exceptionally brilliant 
 society of Williamsburg (Virginia), cultivated and 
 shrinking from all that savored of roughness, he 
 nevertheless shocked the sensibility of others by his 
 ultra simplicity. Never allowing himself to deal with 
 
 [ 73] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 the imagination, entering into the minutest detail of 
 domestic life, calculating to a brick the amount needed 
 for a building, yet a poetic and artistic temperament 
 dominated his life. Popular with companions, cour 
 teous, cheerful, and of a sanguine temperament, his 
 society said to have been delightful to all classes, yet, 
 in spite of himself, making many enemies. Hating 
 visitors and letter-writing, he had an almost feminine 
 yearning for sympathy. Strong in physical vitality, 
 yet of a feminine mould of character. Sensitive and 
 peculiarly vulnerable, yet sharp and caustic in disposi 
 tion. Limiting the individual powers of others, and 
 believing sincerely in the opinion of the multitude, 
 yet given to stretch his own powers whenever vested 
 with authority. Without reverence, and even lacking 
 in respect for authority, he resented it extremely when 
 others resisted him. Never at ease in the atmosphere 
 that surrounded him in his political life, and tortured 
 by its manners, he was constantly immured in it. As 
 a leader of democracy he appeared singularly out of 
 place, resembling in many things the Due de Lian- 
 court, and building for himself a chateau at Monti- 
 cello to be above the contact with men ; yet his fears 
 of a monarchy and aristocracy reached almost to fanat 
 icism ; with popular manners he never showed himself 
 in a crowd. In the midst of the world he led a life 
 entirely his own. 
 
 Why such a man should have entered the arena of 
 political life was as much of a puzzle as was his entire 
 character. He is said to have been no orator, and 
 owed nothing to personal magnetism. According to 
 the received standard of greatness he certainly ranked 
 among the great men. He is said to have had a 
 penetrating mind, looking deeply into events, and a 
 clear judgment ; he was well read in books, but better in 
 mankind ; master over his passions, a philosopher, ex 
 perienced in diplomacy, a master in intrigue. He is 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 said to have been double and vindictive, and insin 
 cerity is said to have been his predominant trait. It 
 may have been these latter characteristics that caused 
 Freneau, while upholding him politically, to avoid him 
 when the political strife was over. 
 
Chapter Tenth 
 
 TOWARDS the close of this stormy year, Jef 
 ferson and Freneau both retired from politi 
 cal life; the one returning to his home at 
 Monti cello, Virginia, the other to the home of his 
 childhood, Mount Pleasant, New Jersey, .leaving a 
 seat in the Cabinet and the editorship of the " Gazette " 
 vacant. The paper was discontinued, as Freneau, it 
 seems, owned the press and type ; and he had them 
 removed to Mount Pleasant, where he had a small 
 building erected about two hundred yards from the 
 house ; there he amused himself by putting in 
 print the various inspirations that visited him. It is 
 said that when any incident of moment occurred, he 
 would retire to the shelter of a favorite old tree, and 
 indite his lyric ; and would then repair to his press, 
 set up the types, and issue his production. 
 
 He now became a contributor to the " Freeman s 
 Journal," published in Philadelphia ; and in 179$ pub 
 lished a translation of the travels of M. 1 Abbe Robin, 
 chaplain to Count Rochambeau, giving an account of 
 the progress of the French army from Newport to 
 Yorktown. In 1795 he published a new and complete 
 edition of his poems, in an octavo volume of four 
 hundred and fifty-six pages, of which we give the 
 titlepage. The fifteen stars have their significance, as 
 we may see from his translation of the Latin verses 
 dedicated to the then existing fifteen States. 
 
 This year an almanac was ushered into existence, a 
 copy of which, yellowed with use and age, is now in the 
 possession of Mr. Weymer Jay Mills. It measures 
 seven inches by four, and contains forty-two pages. 
 On the reverse of the titlepage are the zodiacal signs ; 
 
POEMS 
 
 WRITTEN BETWEEN THE YEARS i/68& 1794 
 
 BY 
 
 PHILIP FRENEAU 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW JERSEY 
 
 A NEW EDITION REVISED AND CORRECTED BY THE 
 
 AUTHOR, INCLUDING a considerable number of 
 
 Pieces never before PUBLISHED. 
 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
 # * * 
 
 * * * * 
 
 ***** 
 
 Audax indc cohors stellis e pluribus unum 
 Ardua pyramidos to Hit ad astro caput. 
 
 MO N M U T H 
 [ N. J. ] 
 
 Printed 
 
 At the Press of the AUTHOR, s at MOUNT-PLEASANT, near 
 MIDDLETOWN-POINT, DCCXCV : and of 
 
 American Independence 
 XIX. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 then follows a page devoted to eclipses, movable feasts, 
 and the cardinal points ; after which is a tide-table 
 with an execrable bit of poetry ; it certainly may 
 not be called rhyme : 
 
 THE NAMES, AND ORDER OF THE TWELVE SIGNS. 
 
 The Ram, the Bull, the heavenly Twins, 
 And near the Crab the Lion Shines, 
 
 The Virgin and the Scales ; 
 The Scorpion, Archer and Sea-Goat, 
 The man that holds the Water-Pot, 
 
 And Fish with glittering tails. 
 
 An article on the Planetary system follows, with an 
 account of Herculaneum and Pompeii. A description 
 of the Prussian armies, a history of the Ugly Club in 
 Charleston, S. C., " A Philosophical Speculation," a 
 dissertation on Barbers Poles, a receipt for the de 
 struction of weevils in wheat, an article on the advan 
 tages of using oxen on farms instead of horses, a 
 method of preserving peach-trees from a destructive 
 species of worm, a Swedish method of breeding turkeys, 
 an article on northeast storms, one on Indian corn, a 
 scale of the ages of animal creation, an account of the 
 Bastille of France, a remarkable imposition, and several 
 anecdotes respectively of the King of Prussia, George 
 Whitfield, and Dogs follow. One page is devoted 
 to the apochryphal chapter of the Book of Genesis 
 by Franklin, another to the calendar of the French 
 republic. Some lines by a young prisoner before his 
 execution, and a remarkable method of finding the 
 body of a drowned person fill its pages. 
 
 [ 7*1 
 
THE 
 MONMOUTH 
 
 ALMANAC, 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 YEAR M,DCC,XCV: 
 
 Being the third after LEAP YEAR ; and the 
 XIX th of AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 
 
 ( nil the FOURTH of July ) 
 
 CALCULATED for the MERIDIAN of NEW JERSEY 
 (Longitude 35 Minutes East from PHILADELPHIA,) 
 AND LATITUDE of 40 DEGREES, 20 MINUTES NORTH 
 
 NUMBER I. 
 
 MIDDLETOWN-POINT. 
 
 Printed and sold by P. FRENEAU, near the above 
 place and may be had of most of the Store-keepers 
 in MONMOUTH and the adjacent Counties. 
 
 Original size of almanac. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 THE PYRAMID OF THE FIFTEEN 
 AMERICAN STATES. 
 
 Barbara Pyramidum fileat miracula Memphis ; * 
 
 Heu, male servili marmora structa manu ! 
 Libera jam, ruptis, Atlantias ora, catenis, 
 
 Jactat opus Phari marmore nobilius : 
 Namque Columbiadae, facti monumenta parantes, 
 
 Vulgarem spernunt sumere materiam ; 
 Magnanimi coelum scandunt, perituraque saxa 
 
 Quod vincat, celsa de Jovis arce petunt. 
 Audax inde cohors stellis E Pluribus Unum 
 
 Ardua Pyramidos tollit ad astra caput. 
 Ergo, Tempus edax, quamvis durissima saevo 
 
 Saxa domas morsu, nil ibi juris habes. 
 Dumque polo solitts cognata nitoribus ardent, 
 
 Sidera fulgebit Pyramis ilia suis! 
 
 (Translation) 
 
 No more let barbarous Memphis boast 
 
 Huge structures rear d by servile hands 
 
 A nation on the Atlantic coast 
 
 Fetter d no more in foreign bands, 
 
 A nobler Pyramid displays, 
 
 Than Egypt s marble e er could raise. 
 
 Columbia s sons, to extend the fame 
 
 Of their bold deeds to future years, 
 No marble from the quarry claim, 
 
 But soaring to the starry spheres, 
 Materials seek in Jove s blue sky 
 To endure when brass and marble die ! 
 
 i The Latin verses were written by Mr. John Gary, formerly of Phila 
 delphia. 
 
 [/&>] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Arriv d among the shining host, 
 
 Fearless, the proud invaders spoil 
 From countless gems, in asther lost, 
 
 These stars, to crown their mighty toil : 
 To heaven a Pyramid they rear 
 And point the summit with a star. 
 
 Old wasteful Time! though still you gain 
 
 Dominion o er the brazen tower, 
 On this your teeth shall gnaw in vain, 
 
 Finding its strength beyond their power : 
 While kindred stars in aether glow 
 This Pyramid will shine below ! 
 
 In the Madison papers we find a letter from Fre- 
 neau, dated Monmouth, New Jersey, November 2d, 
 1794, in which he requests the favor of having Mr. 
 Francis Bailey appointed to the post of printer for the 
 House of Representatives, he having heard that in 
 all probability such a person would be wanted. He 
 assures Mr. Madison that Mr. Bailey "is an old, tried 
 Republican, and has stood forth in the worst of times, 
 both as a printer and soldier, a friend to the rights, 
 liberties, and interests of the country. Such char 
 acters," he adds, " merit consideration ; " and he con 
 cludes his letter with some probably experimental and 
 very practical advice. " Permit me to tell you that, 
 in my opinion, it would be preferable that the whole 
 of the work were entrusted to his care ; dividing the 
 business, I never could persuade myself, answered any 
 good purpose ; and if one such person as Mr. Bailey 
 were made responsible for the whole, considering his 
 attention and abilities, and the capital printing appara 
 tus he is furnished with, I am convinced the House 
 would find their account in having the work done by 
 him." 
 
 Among the very few letters to Freneau in possession 
 of the family, we find Madison s reply to his request, 
 which runs as follows : 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 PHILAD A , April 6, 1795. 
 
 DEAR SIR, I delayed acknowledging your favor long 
 ago rec d , until I could inform you of the prospects of Mr. 
 Bailey in whose favor it was written. I have now the pleas 
 ure to tell you that altho his wishes are not to be immedi 
 ately fulfilled, he is looking to obtain, under the auspices of Mr. 
 Buckley and Mr. Randolph, a share of employment hereafter 
 which may be very valuable to him. 1 congratulate you on the 
 public intelligence just rec d from Holland which gives joy to all 
 true Republicans, and wish you all the private happiness which 
 an exchange of your former troubled services for the shade & 
 tranquillity of your present life can afford. Remember, however, 
 that as you have not chosen any longer to labour in the field 
 of politics, it will be expected by your friends that you culti 
 vate with the more industry your inheritance on Parnassus. 
 With my best respects to Mrs. Freneau, I remain, Dear Sir, 
 Your friend and your S., 
 
 Js. MADISON, JR. 
 
 It seems the old leaven yet remained in Freneau, 
 and the republishing of his patriotic verses caused it 
 to effervesce in the form of a diminutive production, 
 printed in his own little office at Mount Pleasant. It 
 was called " The Jersey Chronicle," and its first copy 
 appeared on the second of May, 1795. ^ comprised 
 eight quarto pages, seven inches by eight, and was 
 headed by a quotation from the editor s favorite poet, 
 Horace : 
 
 " Inter sylvas Academi quaerere verum." 
 
 This journal was issued weekly, and was, as the 
 editor assured his readers, " intended to review foreign 
 and domestic politics of the times, and mark the gen 
 eral character of the age and country." 
 
 During the same month in which it first saw the 
 light as a complete thing, Freneau combined gratitude, 
 business, and courtesy in a letter to Mr. Madison. 
 The former sentiment was awakened by the appoint 
 ment of his friend, Mr. Francis Bailey, to the position 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 he had solicited Mr. Madison to interest himself in 
 procuring for him ; the second was to announce the 
 nativity of the seven by eight; and thirdly and lastly , 
 he congratulates him on his marriage, which had taken 
 place a good part of a year before. This letter is so 
 characteristic of the man that we will insert it in full. 
 
 MONMOUTH, May, aoth, 1795. 
 
 MY RESPECTED FRIEND, By some accident your kind 
 letter of April 6th was a long time in finding its way hither, 
 having not come to hand till the iyth. inst. I sincerely thank 
 you for the interest you have taken in Mr. Bailey He is a 
 good Republican and a worthy honest man, which qualifica 
 tions, I have thought, entitled him to some notice from the 
 Government, in his line of business I was heartily laughed 
 at, however, a few weeks ago in N. York, by some Aristo 
 crats, for having in my Letter to you or Mr. Buckley, I forget 
 which, extolled his Military Services in the late war. I am 
 sensible he never cut off the heads of Giants or drove hosts 
 before him, as some have done ; at the same time it ought to 
 be remembered that he was an officer in the Pennsylvania 
 Militia in the season that tried Men s Souls (as Paine says) 
 and I believe never acted otherwise than became the character 
 in which he acted 
 
 I meet you at least half way in your congratulations on the 
 public intelligence received from Holland. It is but another 
 step toward the advancement and completion of that great and 
 Philanthropic System which I have been anticipating for many 
 years, and which you as well as myself, I hope, will live to 
 see realized. When I first went to reside in Philadf in 
 1791, 1 wished to be one of those who would have the honour 
 and happiness of announcing these great events to the public 
 through the medium of a newspaper. A variety of circum 
 stances however, needless to trouble you with, urged my 
 departure from that city after completing a two years 
 publication. As I mean to pass the remainder of my days 
 on a couple of hundred of acres of an old sandy patrimony, I 
 have, by way of filling up the vacuities of time set on foot a 
 small weekly newspaper calculated for the part of the country 
 in which I am Should you have any curiosity to see it I will 
 
 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 forward it to you free of all expense except that of postage. 
 I will not make high promises in regard to what it may con 
 tain. It will scarcely be expected that in a rude, barbarous 
 part of the country I should calculate it for the polite taste 
 of Philadelphia. Should your fixed residence be in Philad? 
 I can transmit the Papers to you once a week by the Public 
 Post, who stops every Wednesday at my door. A Letter put 
 into the Post Office at Philadelphia on Saturday morning, will 
 be sure to reach me on Wednesday. The public papers some 
 time ago announced your marriage I wish you all possible 
 happiness with the lady whom you have chosen for your Com 
 panion through life Mrs. Freneau joins me in the same, 
 and desires me to present her best respects to your lady and 
 yourself and should you ever take an excursion to these 
 parts of Jersey, we will endeavour to give Mrs. Madison and 
 yourself " if not a costly welcome, yet a kind " 
 I am, Sir, 
 With Great Esteem 
 
 Your friend and humble Serv? 
 
 PHILIP FRENEAU. 
 
 Freneau was an original thinker ; he combined the 
 quickness and brilliancy of mind of the French with 
 the firmness of belief in his own opinions for which 
 his Huguenot ancestors were noted ; and his natural 
 frankness of disposition caused him to feel the ne 
 cessity of asserting his opinion upon all subjects of 
 importance, whether others cared for it or not. More 
 over, as he considered his opinions correct, he was 
 naturally desirous of having others adopt them also. 
 Not being ambitious, and asking nothing from the 
 hands of his country or its representatives, he was 
 quite indifferent to the latter, and desired only to 
 serve the former; therefore, he had nothing to fear 
 from either. The "Chronicle" was a spirited little 
 journal, but Freneau s thoughts were ahead of the 
 times, and the fact of its being carried on by one 
 person, and he at some distance from the political 
 centres, prevented it from being a success. Freneau s 
 
 [ 184 ] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 business affairs were something like Horace Greeley s 
 model farm, whereof it is said everything cost him 
 double what he could get for it; therefore, wearied 
 of providing the public with reading matter at his 
 personal expense, Freneau allowed the paper to die 
 a natural death. Before we bury it, however, we 
 will quote one article contained in its issue of April 
 1 6, 1796. The person of whom it speaks, Captain 
 Hodge, was a prisoner in the old sugar-house during 
 the Revolutionary War. The article was copied from 
 an English paper, and runs thus : 
 
 " It is with great satisfaction that we have it in our 
 power to announce to the public the safety of the crew 
 and troops on board the c Aurora * transport, one of 
 Admiral Christian s fleet, which has for some time 
 been given up as totally lost. Her masts and rudder 
 were carried away by a violent gust of wind about 
 three weeks ago, and from that time she remained a 
 helpless log on the water, kept afloat only by the 
 manual exertions of the people at the pumps. Three 
 vessels bore down to the wreck in this intermediate 
 space, but did not whether from choice or inability, 
 we do not presume to say offer her any assistance. 
 On Tuesday last, being about ten leagues west of the 
 Lizards, Captain Hodge of the ship c Sedgely, of 
 Philadelphia, was so fortunate as to fall in with her, and 
 without the least hesitation determined, at the hazard 
 of his own life and that of his crew, to rescue these 
 miserable people, one hundred and sixty in number, 
 from that fate which so long had threatened them, and 
 which from that time, they must have met in a few 
 hours. It should be recorded to his honor that his 
 humanity, aided by nautical skill, triumphed over the 
 dangers that awaited his exertions in the boat ; for he 
 brought the whole of them safe to his own ship, 
 
 1 This name probably revived in Freneau tender memories of his own 
 beautiful ship, the " Aurora," which, indeed, it may have been. 
 
 \**5\ 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 except one man, who was literally drowned in the boat. 
 The troops are Germans, and have behaved with a 
 sensibility that evinces much gratitude to their de 
 liverers. They have tendered Captain Hodge one 
 thousand guineas, which he has refused, saying that 
 he finds sufficient remuneration in his own breast for 
 the trouble he has had. One of them, on being asked 
 if Captain Hodge treated them well when he had 
 them on board, exclaimed : c Sir, this brave American 
 does honor to his country ; he gave us all he had ; he 
 is a king of men, and we are bound to kiss his feet as 
 long as we live/ After the Aurora* had parted 
 company with Admiral Christian, she had to encounter 
 most dreadful weather. She soon proved so leaky 
 that the pumps became useless, and it was with the 
 utmost difficulty that she was kept above the water 
 by all hands being employed in bailing. Such was 
 the fatigue experienced by the soldiers and crew, that 
 some are said to have died in consequence. They 
 were all, when taken on board the American ship, 
 reduced to a very feeble state. At the time this 
 friendly ship came up, the Aurora was scarcely afloat, 
 and every further effort to prolong a painful existence 
 had been given up by the people on board." 
 
 One may imagine the real pleasure with which 
 Freneau commemorated this noble act in his journal ; 
 for no one was ever more willing to give praise when 
 justly due than was he ; nor has any one ever more 
 generously brought to light, or before the eyes of 
 others, any heroic or virtuous action. He did not 
 wish this noble deed of his countryman to fall into 
 oblivion, and for this reason we insert it here. 
 
 After the obsequies of the Chronicle, 1 Freneau paid 
 a visit to his brother Peter in Charleston, in which 
 city he had many friends and was greatly appreciated. 
 Amongst his acquaintances there were, we learn from 
 
 * There is a copy of this paper in the N. Y. Hist. Soc. 
 
 [iS6] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 an old note-book, several with whom he was inti 
 mate. They were General Rutledge and the Pinck- 
 neys. Charles Pinckney was governor of South Caro 
 lina at that time ; and Thomas had just returned from 
 Spain, in which country as U. S. minister he had nego 
 tiated the treaty of Ildefonso, by which the United 
 States secured the free navigation of the Mississippi. 
 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney had returned lately 
 from an unsuccessful effort, along with Elbridge Gerry 
 and John Marshall, to settle matters between the 
 United States and France, to which country he had 
 been appointed minister. The Directory were de 
 manding an alliance with the United States, or, in lieu 
 of its assistance, a quarter of a million in money, to be 
 paid into their treasury, threatening war in the event of 
 a refusal. It was in reply to this demand that Pinck 
 ney uttered these words that have passed into history : 
 " War be it, then ! Millions for defence, but not a 
 cent for tribute/ 
 
 Upon Freneau s return from Charleston in the 
 latter part of December, he formed the project of a co 
 partnership with Thomas Greenleaf in his two papers, 
 " The Argus," a daily publication, and the " New 
 York Journal/ a bi-weekly; but for some reason the 
 project fell through, and he assumed instead the 
 editorship of a miscellaneous paper called "The Time- 
 Piece and Literary Companion/ While projecting 
 the co-partnership with Mr. Greenleaf, he wrote to 
 Mr. Madison in regard to it; his letter is preserved 
 amongst the Madison State papers, and reads as 
 follows : 
 
 NEW YORK, December ist, 1796. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Having three or four months since formed a 
 resolution to bid adieu for a few years to some old trees in 
 Jersey, under the shade of which I edited, amongst ditching 
 and grubbing, a small weekly paper entitled the Jersey 
 Chronicle, I did not know how to employ that interval better 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 than in striking out here, with some printer, if such could be 
 found, already engaged in supporting the good old Republican 
 cause. After experiencing one or two disappointments in 
 accomplishing this object, I am now, through the kind aid 
 of some friends here, nearly completing the project of a co 
 partnership with Thomas Greenleaf in his two papers, the 
 Argus, a daily publication, and the New York "Journal, twice 
 a week; both on a pretty respectable footing, and noted for 
 a steady attachment to Republican principles, though open to 
 all decent speculations from any party if they choose to trans 
 mit them. In short I would wish to revive something in 
 the spirit of the National Gazette, if time and circumstances 
 allow, and with proper assistance hope to succeed thus, 
 
 A Raven once an acorn took 
 
 From Bashan s strongest, stoutest tree ; 
 
 He hid it near a murmuring brook, 
 And liv d another oak to see. 
 
 As I consider the bargain the same as concluded, my next 
 object is to make all the friends here that I decently can 
 among men of eminence and ability. This I have in some 
 small degree attempted and gained, but for want of certain 
 insinuating qualities, natural enough I suppose to some men, I 
 feel myself sadly at a loss to get acquainted with some charac 
 ters here to whom I could wish to be known upon motives 
 of public as well as private utility. 
 
 Among these is the Chancellor of this state, Robert R. 
 Livingston, with whom, if I recollect right, you are on terms 
 of intimacy. If I am not mistaken in this point, and you can 
 with propriety accede to my request, you would confer a 
 favor upon me by mentioning me to him in your next Letter, 
 in such manner as you may think best, so that this new con 
 nexion may attract some share of his attention, and thereby 
 the countenance of the Livingston family in general which 
 would operate greatly through the State at least, in advancing 
 our Subscription and printing Interest in general. 
 
 With sincere wishes for your long life, health, and hap 
 
 piness 
 
 I am sir, your obliged humble Servt. 
 
 PH. FRENEAU. 
 
T*he Poet of the Revolution 
 
 The " Time-Piece " made its first appearance March 
 13, 1797, and was issued tri-weekly. It was in form 
 a quarto, and besides editing it, Freneau was associated 
 in its printing and publication. During Freneau s 
 editorship of this paper he had a number of lady con 
 tributors, and his office was usually thronged with vis 
 itors, many of whom were applicants for favors of one 
 kind or another, as Freneau s kind heart and generos 
 ity were universally known. One of these applicants, 
 an eccentric person calling herself Deborah Grennet, 
 informed him that she had served during the Revolu 
 tionary War, dressed in male attire ; and to corrobo 
 rate her story, she showed him several wounds that she 
 had received. Freneau drew up a petition for her, and 
 advised her to present it to Congress then sitting in 
 Philadelphia. She did so, and although Freneau had 
 not signed his name, his writing was immediately recog 
 nized by several of the members who were his corre 
 spondents, and by their head, who was Jefferson, then 
 vice-president. The petition received immediate at 
 tention, and Deborah went on her way rejoicing, having 
 received her pension. 
 
 In speaking of this journal, an English publisher 1 
 of one of Freneau s books says : 
 
 " It appears at this time in America inseparable from the 
 notion of a newspaper to have an opponent, and Freneau s 
 great opponent in the * Time-Piece was William Cobbet 
 who started up a few days in advance of Freneau s paper, the 
 Journal called The Porcupine Gazette. If Cobbet dis 
 charged any of his porcupine quills at Freneau, it is most 
 probable they were promptly returned ; for he was always 
 as ready to return a blow with a pen as with a sword, the 
 former being as sharp as the latter. 
 
 The " Time-Piece " is said to have given evidence of 
 Freneau s ability, and his tact in administering to the 
 
 i John Russell Smith, Soho Sq., London. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 tastes of the public was shown in the skill of the selec 
 tions and the general elegance of the material. Duyc- 
 kinck says of it : " As usual, his [Freneau s] part was 
 well done, the Journal being well arranged, judiciously 
 filled with a variety of matter, spirited and entertain 
 ing; in fact, what its title promised, an agreeable 
 companion to an intelligent reader. This at least was 
 its character while in charge of Freneau." 
 
 The press at that time was in a primitive state, like all 
 other institutions. Newspapers were few, and managed 
 by ambitious political chiefs ; the sheets were small and 
 crowded with advertisements, the reading matter, what 
 there was of it, contributed by scholars and politicians; 
 but nearly every writer was bound by a party, and many 
 years were to elapse before the germs of what is now 
 one of the chief glories of America acquired anything 
 approximating a full freedom of thought and action. 1 
 But in that time of political agitation attendant upon 
 Adams term of office, people did not take much inter 
 est in literature, and Philip was ahead of the times 
 in which he lived. The Alien and Sedition Acts were 
 exciting the public, and the latter seriously affected 
 Freneau s freedom of thought and expression, as it 
 threatened fine and imprisonment for the freedom of 
 speech and the press. To live under such a restraint, 
 and moreover to edit a paper, was something like har 
 nessing the American eagle ; at least it seemed so to 
 Philip ; so, placing the paper in the hands of Mat 
 thew L. Davis, a promising young man, Freneau 
 plumed his pinions for flight. This was his last perch 
 in undertakings of this kind. 
 
 It would seem that Freneau visited his brother in 
 Charleston, S. C., and that his brother Peter bought 
 and freighted a brig named " Washington " in which 
 Philip, as commander, made many voyages, several 
 of which were to St. Thomas, W. I., and two to 
 
 1 Mrs. Lamb s History of New York. 
 
 [190] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Madeira ; and from a private memorandum in his own 
 hand-writing, we find that he sailed from Teneriffe 
 for Charleston in May of the year 1 804. This visit to 
 Teneriffe he has commemorated in one of his poems. 
 Afterwards he sailed between Savannah and the West 
 Indies, and finally to Calcutta, after which this 
 bold bird of the sea folded his wings on his native 
 shore. 
 
 On our desk lie three old volumes once in the pos 
 session of the sailor poet ; two of them are works on 
 navigation, the one a good-sized book, the second vol 
 ume of Robertson s " Theory and Practice of Navi 
 gation and Marine Fortifications," bearing the print 
 of 1772. On its titlepage is written in large charac 
 ters the name, " Philip Freneau son livre de naviga 
 tion," and underneath, the words : " II faut bien 
 Tesperer, car sans cette consolation il n y aurait qu a 
 mourir." Two lines of poetry have evidently been 
 intentionally defaced ; the first may with difficulty be 
 deciphered, 
 
 " If God or Fate to man would give," 
 
 the second is undecipherable. On the back of a chart 
 is written, in his peculiarly beautiful and delicate chi- 
 rography, in ink paled and yellowed by time, some 
 "Remarks and Observations" which run thus: 
 
 " The cold is greater in the southern Hemisphere than in the 
 Northern, because, though in the same Latitude of each hemi 
 sphere the Position of the Sphere be the same, the Distance of 
 the Earth from the Sun in the Corresponding Seasons is not equal. 
 Winter happens in our hemisphere when the Earth is at its 
 least Distance from the Sun and this circumstance diminishes 
 the cold. In the Southern Hemisphere it is the contrary, win 
 ter happens when the Earth is at its greatest distance from the 
 Sun which circumstance augments the force of the cold : add 
 to this, that in the Southern Hemisphere the winter is longer 
 by Eight Days than in the northern." 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 The first volume of this work is missing. Another is 
 " Atkinson s Epitome of the Art of Navigation," an old 
 print of 1749 ; on the fly-leaf of this book is writ 
 ten, in the same hand-writing, the same name and a 
 " Table of the number of miles contained in a Degree 
 of Longitude In each Parallel of Latitude from the 
 Equator to the Pole." We notice in the extract the 
 custom in those days of beginning every emphatic word 
 with a capital. On the back of two charts in this book 
 is written a poem, if indeed it may be classed as such, 
 which has never seen the light till now, when the poor 
 hand that penned it has returned to the dust. The 
 writing is fast becoming illegible, therefore my readers 
 will bear with me for reproducing it here : 
 
 THE STORMS 
 
 Cease, rude Boreas, blustering railer, 
 List ye Landsmen all to me, 
 Messmates hear a Brother Sailor 
 Sing the dangers of the Sea. 
 From bounding Billows first in motion, 
 When the distant whirlwinds rise, 
 From the tempest troubled ocean, 
 Where the seas contend with skies. 
 
 Hark ! the Boatswain hoarsely bawling, 
 By topsail sheets, and halyards stand, 
 Down topgallants, quick be hauling 
 Down your staysails, hand, boys, hand ! 
 Now it freshens, set the braces, 
 Now the topsail sheets let go, 
 Luff, boys, luff, don t make wry faces 
 Up your topsails nimbly clew. 
 
 1 Since sending the manuscript of this work to press it appears that the 
 first four lines of this poem are given in Bartlett s " Familiar Quotations " 
 as emanating from the pen of George A. Stevens, an English author who 
 died in 1784. He published a volume of "Songs Comic and Satirical " 
 in 1772, one of which was entitled " A Storm ; " it may have been this 
 one, and that Freneau merely copied it. The latter never presented it as 
 his own. 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Now all you on down beds sporting, 
 Fondly locked in Beauty s arms, 
 Fresh enjoyments wanton courting, 
 Safe from all but love s alarms, 
 Round us roars the tempest louder, 
 Think what fears our minds enthral. 
 Harder yet it blows, yet harder, 
 Now again the Bosen calls. 
 
 The topsail yards point to the wind, boys, 
 See all clear to reef each course, 
 Let the fore sheet go, don t mind, boys, 
 Tho the weather should be worse. 
 Fore and aft the sprit sail yard get, 
 Reef the mizzen, see all clear, 
 Hands up each preventer brace set, 
 Man the fore yard, cheer, lads, cheer ! 
 
 Now the dreadful thunders roaring, 
 Peal on peal contending clash, 
 On our heads fierce rain falls pouring, 
 In our eyes blue lightnings flash. 
 One wide water all around us, 
 All above us one black sky, 
 Different deaths at once surround us, 
 Hark ! what means that dreadful cry ? 
 
 The foremast s gone, cries every tongue out, 
 O er the Lee twelve feet bove deck; 
 A leak beneath the chest trees sprung out, 
 Call all hands to clear the wreck. 
 Quick, the Lanyard cut to pieces, 
 Come, my hearts, be stout and bold. 
 Plumb the well, the Leak increases ; 
 Four feet water in the hold. 
 
 While o er the ship wild waves are beating, 
 We for wives or children mourn, 
 Alas ! from hence there s no retreating, 
 Alas ! from hence there s no return. 
 
 [ 93 ] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Still the Leak is gaining on us, 
 Both chain pumps are choaked below, 
 Heaven have mercy here upon us, 
 For only that can save us now. 
 
 O er the Lee beam is the Land, boys, 
 
 Let the Guns o erboard be thrown. 
 
 To the pump come every hand, boys, 
 
 See, our mizzen mast is gone ! 
 
 The Leak we Ve found, it cannot pour fast, 
 
 We Ve lightened her a foot or more, 
 
 Up and rig a jury foremast ; 
 
 She rights, she rights, boys, we re off shore. 
 
 Now, once more on joys we re thinking 
 Since kind fortune saved our Lives ; 
 Come the cann, boys, let s be drinking 
 To our sweethearts and our wives. 
 Fill it up, about ship wheel it, 
 Close to the lips a brimmer join, 
 Where s the tempest now, who feels it ? 
 None our danger s drown d in wine. 
 
 Besides different ports mentioned, Freneau visited 
 St. Croix, Guadeloupe, St. Eustatia, Cura9oa, Deme- 
 rara, Cumana, and Porto Cabello. Upon his return 
 from Calcutta in the year 1809, Freneau, at the age 
 of fifty-seven years, settled down to the manage 
 ment, or mismanagement, of his estate, and the 
 care of his little family, consisting of wife, four girls, 
 and his slaves. Although he understood nothing 
 whatever of farming, he took pleasure in seeing the 
 work progress ; and he delighted in feeding the differ 
 ent animals, being a great lover of nature in all its 
 forms. His love for dumb animals and tenderness 
 of heart were such that he always managed to have 
 important business to take him from home during 
 slaughtering season. Mrs. Freneau gave orders to the 
 blacks to have the poultry for the table killed in some 
 place where he would not happen to see them in his 
 
 \ 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 walks, or hear their cries during the work of decapita 
 tion. Freneau considered his excessive sensibility a 
 weakness, and tried to conceal it, but he could never 
 steel himself to witness any kind of suffering. One 
 day his little granddaughter l was busily occupied in 
 endeavoring to capture a fly that was buzzing on the 
 window-pane, but her grandfather speedily put an end 
 to her sport, telling her that there was room enough in 
 the world for everything that God had made. He was 
 a kind and liberal master to his slaves ; the miserable 
 condition of the blacks in the different ports he had 
 visited had made an ineffaceable impression upon his 
 mind, which was heightened by the memory of his 
 own cruel captivity on the prison ship ; and it caused 
 him unhappiness until he had given freedom to all his 
 slaves, which event occurred some time before the 
 Emancipation Act of New Jersey. After their manu 
 mission he continued to support the aged and in 
 firm amongst them. He could say with Dido, " Non 
 [ignarus] mali, miseris succurrere disco." 2 
 
 Freneau frequently visited Philadelphia and New 
 York, where his acquaintance with prominent persons 
 and literary men of the times was extensive. 
 
 In 1809 Freneau published a new collection of his 
 poems which constituted a fourth issue ; these he en 
 titled " Poems Written and Published during the 
 American Revolutionary War, and now Republished 
 from the Original Manuscripts ; interspersed with 
 Translations from the Ancients and other pieces not 
 heretofore in print." The titlepage of this volume 
 bears for its motto, 
 
 u Justly to record the deeds of fame, 
 A muse from heaven should touch the soul with flame ; 
 Some powerful spirit, in superior lays, 
 Should tell the conflicts of the stormy days." 
 
 1 Mrs. Charles Townsend Harris, now living. 
 4 I learned from misfortune itself to succor th 
 
 the unfortunate 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 An author has said these translations prove that 
 Freneau had not altogether lost the early instruction 
 in the classics which he had received at Nassau Hall. 
 Some of these are from Ovid s " Tristia " and Lucre 
 tius. Amongst the Madison Papers is a letter from 
 Freneau dated the same year: 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, April 8th, 1809. 
 
 SIR, I do myself the pleasure to enclose to you a copy 
 of Proposals for the publication of a couple of Volumes of 
 Poems shortly to be put to the Press in this city. Perhaps 
 some of your particular friends in Virginia may be induced 
 from a view of the Proposals in your hands to subscribe their 
 names. If so, please to have them forwarded to this place by 
 Post, addressed to the Publisher at No. 10 North Alley, Phila 
 delphia. Accept my congratulations on your late Election to 
 the Presidency of the United States, and my hopes that your 
 weight of State Affairs may receive every alleviation in the 
 gratitude and esteem of the Public whom you serve in your 
 truly honorable and exalted Station. 
 
 I remain Sir, 
 
 with the highest respect and regard, 
 your humble servant 
 
 PHILIP FRENEAU. 
 
 Freneau to Madison .* 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, May iath, 1809. 
 
 SIR, After a month s ramble through the States of New 
 Jersey and New York, I returned to this place on Saturday 
 last, and found your friendly Letter on Mr. Bailey s table, 
 with the contents. There was no occasion of enclosing any 
 Money, as your name was all I wanted to have placed at the 
 head of the Subscription list. I hope you will credit me 
 when I say that the republication of these Poems, such as they 
 are, was not a business of my own seeking or forwarding. I 
 found last Winter an Edition would soon be going on at all 
 events, and in contradiction to my wishes, as I had left these 
 old scribblings, to float quietly down the stream of oblivion to 
 
 1 Madison Papers, vol. xxxv. p. 17. 
 
 [106} 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 their destined element the ocean of forgetfulness. However, 
 I have concluded to remain here this Summer, and have them 
 published in a respectable manner, and free as possible from 
 the blemishes imputable to the two former Editions, over which 
 I had no controul, having given my manuscripts away, and left 
 them to the mercy of chance. I am endeavouring to make 
 the whole work as worthy of the public eye as circumstances 
 will allow. 1500 copies are to be printed, only; but I have a 
 certainty, from the present popular frenzy, that three times 
 that number might soon be disposed of. I will attend to 
 what you direct on the subject, and will forward the ten you 
 mention by the middle of July or sooner. I will consider 
 of what you say relative to the insertion of a piece or two in 
 prose, but suspect that anything I have written in that way 
 is so inferior to the Poetry, that the contrast will be injurious 
 to the credit of the Publication. I feel much in the humour 
 of remaining here about two years, to amuse myself as well as 
 the Public, with such matter as that of the fat man you refer 
 to, and if the Public are in the same humour they shall be 
 gratified. But I am intruding on your time and will add no 
 more at present. I had almost said, 
 
 Cum tot sustineas et tanta negotia solus 
 Res Italas armis tuleris moribus omnes 
 Legibus emendes, in publica commoda fecerem 
 Si longo sermone mores tua tempora, Caesar. 
 
 My best wishes, Sir, will ever await you, and in particular 
 that your Presidential Career may be equally honourable, 
 though less stormy than that of your predecessor. 
 
 My best compliments and respects to Mrs. Madison, and 
 remain with esteem and respect, 
 
 Your sincere friend 
 
 PHILIP FRENEAU. 
 
 Madison s reply to these two letters, if they were 
 preserved by Freneau, were probably consumed in the 
 burning of his house ; but Freneau s third letter, prov 
 ing that there had been such, bears the date of the 
 following August. 
 
 \ 97\ 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, Aug. yth, 1809. 
 
 SIR, The two volumes of Poems that in April last I en 
 gaged to have published, are finished, and will be ready for 
 delivery in two or three days. The ten Setts * you subscribed 
 for I am rather at a loss how to have safely transmitted to you 
 at your residence in Virginia, where I find by the newspapers, 
 you mean to Continue until the end of September. Will you 
 on receipt of this, send me a line or two informing me whether 
 you would prefer having the Books put into the hands of some 
 Confidential person here, to be sent, or, that they be sent to the 
 Post Office at Washington ; or that they be forwarded directly 
 to yourself in Orange County. The precise direction is not 
 in my power. 
 
 I am Sir, with respect and esteem, 
 Your obedient humble Servt., 
 
 PHILIP FRENEAU. 
 No 80 SOUTH FRONT STREET 
 or 10 NORTH ALLEY 
 PHILAD A . 
 
 Letter from Jefferson to Freneau in relation to same work? 
 
 MONTICELLO, May 32, 09. 
 
 DEAR SIR, I subscribe with pleasure to the publication 
 of your volumes of poems. I anticipate the same pleasure 
 from them which the perusal of those heretofore published has 
 given me. I have not been able to circulate the paper because 
 I have not been from home above once or twice since my re 
 turn, and because in a country situation like mine, little can be 
 done in that way. The inhabitants of the country are mostly 
 industrious farmers employed in active life and reading little. 
 They rarely buy a book of whose merit they can judge by hav 
 ing it in their hand, and are less disposed to engage for those 
 yet unknown to them. I am becoming like them myself in the 
 preference of the healthy and cheerful employment without 
 doors, to the being immured within four brick walls. But 
 under the shade of a tree one of your volumes will be a pleas 
 ant pocket-companion. Wishing you all possible success 
 and happiness, I salute you with constant esteem and respect. 
 
 TH. JEFFERSON. 
 
 MR. FRENEAU. 
 
 1 Twenty volumes. * Jefferson Papers. Series a, vol. 34, p. 135. 
 
 [jyf] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Freneau to Jefferson. 1 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, May a 7th, 1809. 
 
 SIR, Yesterday your Letter, dated May 22d, came to hand. 
 Perhaps you a little misunderstood me, when I wrote to you 
 from this place in April last, inclosing the Proposal Paper, re 
 specting the Poems. I only wished your name to be placed 
 at the head of the list, and did not wish you to be at the pains 
 of collecting Subscriptions, further than as any of your neigh 
 bours might choose to put down their names. Indeed the 
 whole Subscription plan was Set a going without my knowledge 
 or approbation, last Winter. But as I found the matter had 
 gone too far to be recalled, I thought it best to Submit, in the 
 present Edition, to the course and order of things as they are 
 and must be. Sir, if there be anything like happiness in this 
 our State of existence, it will be such to me, when these two 
 little Volumes reach you in August ensuing, if the sentiments 
 in them under the poetical Veil, amuse you but for a single 
 hour. This is the first Edition that I have in reality attended 
 to, the other two having been published, in a strange way, 
 while I was wandering over gloomy Seas, until embargoed by the 
 necessity of the times, and now again, I fear, I am reverting 
 to the folly of scribbling Verses. 
 
 That your shade of Monticello may afford you complete 
 happiness is the wish and hope of all the worthy part of man 
 kind, and my own in particular. In such the philosophers of 
 antiquity preferred to pass life, or if that was not allowed, 
 their declining days. 
 
 Will you be so good as to read the enclosed Verses ? They 
 were published early in March last in the Trenton True 
 American Newspaper, and in the Public Advertiser, of New 
 York. 
 
 I am, Sir, with all esteem 
 
 Your obedient humble Servant 
 
 PHILIP FRENEAU. 
 
 In New York City, Freneau was ever a most wel 
 come guest, at Governor Clinton s and at the resi 
 dence of Dr. Francis, who then resided in Bond Street. 
 
 1 Jefferson Papers. Series 2, vol. 34, p. 134. 
 
 1*99-} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 The latter generally had some of the literati to meet 
 him there. 
 
 Dr. Francis, in his " Reminiscences," describes Fre 
 neau as being somewhat below the medium height 
 and slightly stooped, thin and muscular, with a firm 
 step even in age ; his forehead he describes as being 
 very high, with soft and beautiful flowing hair of an 
 iron-gray color ; his eyes dark-gray, deeply set, and 
 eyelids slightly drooping ; his habitual expression 
 pensive, but lighting up with animation when speak 
 ing. He retained the small-clothes, long hose, 
 buckled shoes, and cocked hat of the colonial period 
 until his death. 
 
 The same writer also mentions the aversion Fre 
 neau evinced to sitting for his portrait, or even having 
 it taken at all. The reason for this peculiarity Dr. 
 Francis could never fathom ; and Freneau never gave 
 it. Although not so strikingly handsome as his 
 brother, who was considered the handsomest man 
 in South Carolina, Freneau was, especially in his 
 younger days, considered a handsome man ; yet he 
 never wished to have himself reproduced on canvas. 1 
 Rembrandt Peale once waited upon him with a request 
 from a body of Philadelphia gentlemen to allow his 
 portrait to be taken, but he was " inexorable." At a 
 dinner given by Dr. Hosack of Philadelphia, the 
 artist Jarvis was concealed in the room that he might 
 catch his likeness, but in some way Freneau detected 
 the design and frustrated it. It was caught once in a 
 parlor, and, although he acknowledged it to be a good 
 picture, he compelled its destruction. The picture in 
 this book was executed after his death, from sugges 
 tions of the family, and was considered by them to be 
 an excellent likeness. 
 
 Freneau, like his brother, was a man of extensive 
 reading ; his mind was logical and philosophical 
 
 1 His brother Pierre had this same peculiarity. 
 
 [200] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 rather than credulous; but he was full of imagination 
 and fancy, and withal clear-headed. In manners, we 
 are told, he was courteous and refined ; and towards 
 ladies, with whom he was a favorite, he was gallant. 
 His general bearing won the admiration of all parties ; 
 his knowledge of the men and events of the times 
 was extensive ; and it is said that few knew as much 
 about the early history of our country, the organiza 
 tion of the government, and the origin of political 
 parties ; and he could enter into any topic of conver 
 sation that interested his companions. 
 
 "With Gates he compared the achievements of 
 Monmouth with those of Saratoga; with Colonel 
 Hamilton Fish he reviewed the capture of Yorktown ; 
 with Dr. Mitchell he rehearsed from his own sad ex 
 perience the physical sufferings and various diseases of 
 the prison ships ; and he descanted on Italian poets and 
 the piscatory eclogues of Sannazarius, and doubtless 
 furnished Dr. Benjamin Dewitt with data for his dis 
 sertation on the eleven thousand and five hundred 
 American martyrs ; with Pintard he enjoyed Horace 
 and talked of Paul Jones ; with Major Fairlie he dis 
 cussed the tactics and charity of Baron Steuben ; with 
 Sylvanus Miller he compared political clubs in 1795 
 with those of 1810. He could share with Paine his 
 ideal of a democracy, and with DeWitt Clinton and 
 D. Calhoun debated the project of internal improve 
 ments and artificial navigation based upon the former s 
 procedure of the Languedoc Canal ; with Francis 
 Hopkinson he talked politics and the poets ; with 
 Bishop Provost he interchanged intimate conversa 
 tion based on kindred sentiments ; and with Gulian 
 C. Verplanck, Cadwallader Colden, and Dr. Francis, 
 he discussed old men and old times with rare ability." 
 He could relate Jefferson s account of the hasty signa 
 tures affixed to the Declaration of Independence, 
 which he, Jefferson, attributed to the fact of the loca- 
 
 [201] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 tion being contiguous to a stable, and the signers wear 
 ing short clothes ; the flies, he asserted, troubled their 
 long hose to such a degree as to keep them continu 
 ally switching them off with their handkerchiefs. Mr. 
 Jefferson acknowledged that he affixed his signature 
 as quickly as possible and beat a hasty retreat. Old 
 New York was an ever interesting theme with Fre 
 neau, and his dear friend and room-mate, James Mad 
 ison, was a particularly pleasant one ; he described 
 him as being of a very retiring disposition and fond 
 of skating, it being his only recreation. According to 
 him, Madison could never be induced to appear upon 
 the stage to debate with the other students, although 
 in after years his training in the House of Representa 
 tives and in the various Congresses and councils of 
 state caused him to acquire a habit of self-possession 
 which facilitated the use of the rich resources of his 
 brilliant and discriminating mind ; and his extensive 
 information caused him to become the centre of every 
 assembly of which he was a member. His early se 
 clusion had the effect of giving him such a close appli 
 cation to the thread of his subject that he never 
 wandered from it, but ever followed it in the purest 
 and most classical language ; and his gentleness and 
 kindly expressions and manner caused even his ad 
 versaries to feel kindly disposed towards him. His 
 spotless virtue never allowed calumny a momentary 
 resting-place. He was the only one of Freneau s 
 contemporaries that outlived him. 1 
 
 Extremely hospitable, Freneau always warmly wel 
 comed his friends at Mount Pleasant, where he de 
 voted his declining years to reading and answering 
 his numerous correspondents, and in occasionally 
 penning an article for the press. He always retained 
 his original frankness in expressing himself, but it was 
 
 1 Although Madison graduated the same year with Philip, he re 
 mained another year at college. 
 
 [202} 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 softened down considerably as he advanced in years. 
 In fact it was his pen, as some author has said, more 
 than his heart that was so acrimonious in his early 
 years ; no personal malice ever rested in his mind, 
 and he was ever ready to pardon those who had in 
 jured him. Even his adversaries, some of whom he 
 had treated pretty roughly with his pen in early days, 
 in later times claimed him as a friend. In his friend 
 ships he was ardent and sincere, and they were usually 
 life-long. 
 
 Freneau lived to see his classmate Burr tried for 
 treason, and finally stain his hand in the blood of his 
 own old adversary, Alexander Hamilton. He saw his 
 room-mate on the presidential chair, and others filling 
 the first places in the States ; and he rejoiced in their 
 honors, desiring none for himself and refusing those 
 that were offered him. He saw the white sails give 
 place to iron-bound steam, and the old printing- 
 presses he had once manipulated moved by the 
 same power. He saw his contemporaries pass away 
 before him, and he laid in turn his own dear ones 
 to rest. He sang the events of the second great war, 
 and decked with the laurel of his song the brave and 
 gallant deeds of his countrymen. He saw the flames 
 consume the home of his childhood till it lay in ashes 
 at his feet, and his aged hand closed the record his boy 
 ish one had commenced in the Bible of his fathers : 
 
 " Old house at Mount Pleasant took fire Sunday afternoon 
 at four o clock, Oct. i8th 1818. It was burned to the ground 
 with a large quantity of valuable property therein. Said old 
 house was built in 1752 by my father." 
 
 Freneau, like most persons of intellect, education, 
 and energy, had from his earliest years of public life 
 associated mostly with persons much in advance of 
 him in years; consequently, as we have seen, many 
 passed away before him ; which fact he sadly alludes 
 
 [ 203 } 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 to in a letter to Madison dated three years before he 
 saw the home of his father laid in ashes. The 
 letter refers to two volumes of poems published by 
 Freneau, commemorating the stirring events of the 
 war of 1812. In these poems, with his usual freedom 
 from all sentiments of jealousy, he celebrates the naval 
 actions of Hull, Porter, and Macdonough. These 
 books were printed by David Longworth in 1815, 
 entitled " A Collection of Poems on American Affairs 
 and a Variety of other Subjects, written between the 
 years 1797 and the present time/ 
 
 Freneau to Madison. 
 
 MOUNT PLEASANT, NEAR MIDDLETOWN POINT. 
 MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY, JANUARY izth, 1815. 
 
 SIR, Since my last return from the Canary Islands in 
 1807 to Charleston and from thence to New York, with my 
 Brigantine Washington, quitting the bustle and distraction of 
 active life, my walks have been confined, with now and then 
 a short excursion, to the neighbourhood of the Never Sink 
 hills, and under some old hereditary trees, and on some fields, 
 which I well recollect for sixty years. During the last Seven 
 Years my pen could not be entirely idle, and for amusement 
 only now and then I had recourse to my old habit of scrib 
 bling verses. A Bookseller in New York, Mr. Longworth, 
 by some means discovered this, and has prevailed on me to 
 put my papers into his hands for publication. With some 
 reluctance I consented to gratify his wish, altho I think 
 after the age of fifty, or thereabouts, the vanity of authorship 
 ought to cease, at least it has been the case with myself. 
 Mr. Longworth informs me the work will be published early 
 in February in two duodecimo volumes. I have directed him, 
 when done, to forward a copy to yourself, of which I beg 
 your acceptance. I do not know that the Verses are of any 
 superior or very unusual merit, but he tells me the Town will 
 have them ; and of course, have them they will, and must, 
 it seems. The Work cannot be very tedious, for in two small 
 Volumes there will be upwards of one hundred and thirty 
 
 [204] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Poems on different subjects, moral, political, or merely amus 
 ing, and not a few upon the events of the times since May 
 1812. However, you know a short production may some 
 times be tedious, and a long one very lively and captivating. 
 None of my effusions in these Volumes much exceed two hun 
 dred lines, and several do not reach more than the fourth part 
 of that number of lines. 
 
 When I left Philadelphia, about the middle of September 
 1809, the ten copies of the Revolutionary Poems, which you 
 subscribed for, were put into a box well secured, and for 
 warded according to your direction, under the care of General 
 Steele, then Collector of the Port of Philadelphia ; I have not 
 since heard whether they reached you or not. 
 
 That Edition was published by Subscription merely for the 
 benefit of, and to assist Mrs. Bailey, an unfortunate but deserv 
 ing widowed female, niece to General Steele, and this con 
 sideration alone induced me to pay some attention to that 
 third Edition. But, in mentioning these matters I fear I am 
 intruding both on your time and patience, constantly, or 
 always perpetually engaged, as you undoubtedly are, in the 
 duties of your station at a stormy period, a tempestuous 
 Presidency indeed ! May you weather all the conflicts of 
 these mighty times, and return safe at the proper period to 
 your Virginia Groves, fields, and streams : sure I am, different 
 very different indeed from your long intercourse with political 
 Life and the affairs of a " grumbling Hive." My best wishes 
 attend Yourself, and Mrs. Madison, to whom, tho I never 
 had the pleasure of her acquaintance, I beg you to present my 
 best compliments and regards. 
 
 I remain, Sir, (I hardly need to say) 
 with great esteem and respect, 
 Your obedient, humble Servant, 
 
 PHILIP FRENEAU. 
 HON BLE - JAMES MADISON, 
 Washington. 
 
 Freneau to Madison. 
 
 NEW YORK, March 3d, 1815. 
 
 SIR, When I mentioned in my few lines to you, dated 
 from my residence in New Jersey on the 22d of January last, 
 the two Volumes of Poems publishing in this city by Mr. 
 
 [*/] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Longworth, I did really think to have had a small box of 
 them at Washington by the middle of February at farthest, 
 with a particular direction of a couple of copies to Yourself 
 bound in an elegant manner. Finding, however, that the 
 business went on slowly here, and a little vexed to be under 
 the necessity of leaving my Solitude and the wild scenes of 
 nature in New Jersey for the ever execrated streets and com 
 pany of this Capital, I embarked near Sandy Hook in a snow 
 storm, about the last of January, and shortly after arrived here, 
 fortunately unnoticed and almost unknown. ... At my time 
 of life, 63 ! ! ! abounding however in all the powers of health 
 and vigour, though I consider my poetry and poems as mere 
 trifles, I was seriously out of humour on my arrival here to 
 see my work delayed, as well from the severity of the cold, 
 which has been unremitting for more than a month past, and 
 perhaps to some other causes it would not be prudent here to 
 explain. 
 
 By my incessant exertions in spurring on the indolence of 
 typography, the work, such as it is, is now finished, in two 
 small Volumes of about 180 pages each. The moment they 
 are out of the bookbinder s hands, Mr. Longworth will for 
 ward you a Copy, and by the first Vessel to Alexandria, George 
 town, or Washington a Box of them to his correspondents in 
 these places. A Copy or two of the Revolutionary poems will 
 be forwarded to your direction. I am sorry the Copies you had 
 were doomed to the flames, but the author had nearly suffered 
 the same fate in the year 1780. Yesterday I received from 
 New Jersey a Copy of your friendly Letter of the ist. February. 
 A Copy, I say, for my wife, or some one of my four Girls, 
 daughters, would not forward me the original, but keep it until 
 my return for fear of accidents. To-morrow morning I 
 embark again for Monmouth, and among other cares, when I 
 arrive at my magical grove, I shall hasten to exert all the 
 poetical energy I possess, on the grand Subject of the Repulse 
 of the British Army from New Orleans. There is a subject 
 indeed ! far above my power, I fear. If there be anything in 
 inspiration, it will be needful on such a theme. Eight hundred 
 lines in Heroic Measure I mean to devote to this animating 
 subject. In due time you shall hear more from me on this 
 business if I am not anticipated by some one more muse be- 
 
 [206] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 loved than myself. Hoping that all health and happiness may 
 attend you, and that your Libraries in future may escape the 
 ravages of the flames of Goths and Barbarians, 
 
 I remain dear Sir 
 Your obedt. humble servant, 
 
 PHILIP FRENEAU. 
 
 One more letter to Madison concludes the corre 
 spondence on the subject of the poems. 
 
 NEW YORK, May loth, 1815. 
 
 SIR, Mrs. Anna Smyth, the lady of Charles Smyth 
 Esquire, a respectable Citizen of this place, being to set out in 
 a few days on a tour to Virginia, and expecting to be in your 
 neighborhood either at Washington, or at Montpelier, does 
 me the favour to take under her particular care, to put or 
 transmit into your hands, the two little Volumes I mentioned 
 to you in my letter last winter, and to which I received your 
 friendly and obliging Answer. Be pleased to accept them as a 
 mark of my attention, respect, and esteem, in regard to your 
 private as well as public character. I have written to Mr. 
 Carey, in Philadelphia, a bookseller there, to forward on to 
 you, if he has them, the two Volumes of the Revolutionary 
 Poems published in Philadelphia in the Summer of 1809, and 
 which you wished to regain, since the loss of your copies in 
 the conflagration at Washington last year. I flatter myself, 
 the arrangement I have made with him will replace them in 
 your hand I will only add, that any attention paid by you to 
 Mrs. Smyth, I will consider as conferred on myself. 
 
 I am, Sir, with the highest consideration, 
 
 Your obedient humble servant, 
 
 PHILIP FRENEAU. 
 THE HONORABLE JAMES MADISON, 
 President of the United States. 
 
 After the disastrous fire at Mount Pleasant which 
 consumed the fine library mentioned in Mrs. Freneau s 
 letter to her brother, Samuel Forman, and in which 
 much as yet unpublished poetry of Freneau s had been 
 consumed, Freneau with his wife and two unmarried 
 daughters removed, that is, themselves and the clothing 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 they wore, to a house which was building ; in which they 
 remained up to the death of Mrs. Freneau s brother, 
 when they took possession of his house, which had 
 formerly belonged to Mrs. Freneau s father and had 
 been the home of her childhood. Freneau lived in 
 this house till his death. 
 
 Freneau was naturally sociable, and, being a great 
 walker, he frequently met his friends in the evening 
 at the rooms of the circulating library of the town. 
 On the evening of the eighteenth of December, 1832, 
 he remained there somewhat later than usual, having 
 been interested in a political discussion. The Hon. 
 William L. Dayton, afterwards U. S. Minister to 
 France, offered to accompany him home; but 
 Freneau persistently refused, and started alone. After 
 a time a sudden snow-storm came up and hid from 
 his view the lamp his wife always left burning in a 
 window to light him home. It is supposed that he 
 was blinded by the snow and benumbed by the in 
 tense cold, and, falling, broke his hip. He sank down 
 by the side of the road, and, with the snow for his 
 winding-sheet and the wild winter wind singing his 
 requiem, 1 the freedom-loving spirit of Philip Freneau 
 passed into the presence of his Maker. 
 
 Mr. Delancey says, " Such was the tragic end of 
 one of the most original and gifted poets that America, 
 up to his day, and I may say to ours, has ever pro 
 duced." 
 
 In speaking of his death the " Monmouth Inquirer" 
 says : 
 
 u Captain Freneau was a staunch Whig in the time of the 
 Revolution, a good soldier, and a warm patriot. The produc 
 tions of his pen animated his countrymen in the dark days of 
 
 1 They do not err 
 Who say that, when a poet dies, 
 Mute Nature mourns her worshipper 
 And celebrates his obsequies. SCOTT. 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 seventy six, and the effusions of his muse cheered the despond 
 ing soldier as he fought the battles of freedom; he was the 
 popular poet of the Revolution." 
 
 His death is recorded in the old Bible by his 
 daughter Agnes, and closes the Freneau record. 
 
 " My dear father, Philip Freneau, was buried, by his own 
 particular request, in the Locust Grove, very near his beloved 
 mother, on Friday afternoon the twenty-first of December, 
 1832." 
 
 Freneau was buried under the tree of which we 
 have already spoken as being his favorite seat, and 
 under whose shade he composed many of his poems. 
 His tombstone is a very simple one, of marble sur 
 mounted by a draped urn, and bears the inscription : 
 
 " POET S GRAVE. 
 PHILIP FRENEAU 
 died December i8th. 1832 
 ae. 80 years, n months, and 16 days. 
 
 " He was a native of New York, but for many years a resi 
 dent of Philadelphia and New Jersey. His upright and honest 
 character is in the memory of many, and will remain when 
 this inscription is no longer legible. 
 
 " Heaven lifts its everlasting portal high, 
 And bids the pure in heart behold their God." 
 
 By his side on another tombstone we read, 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of Eleanor, wife of Philip Freneau, 
 and daughter of Samuel and Helena Forman, who died Sep 
 tember ist, 1850, aged 86 years 9 months and 20 days." 
 
 The third book we have mentioned as lying on the 
 desk proves that Freneau was not unmindful of his 
 end, and shows his faith in God, and his deep affection 
 for his loved ones. It, strangely enough, is marked 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 by the firm hand of his early youth, and the trem 
 bling one of his old age. On its inner cover it bears 
 the date of his entrance to the Penolopen Latin 
 School, that of his initiation into Princeton College, 
 and also that of his graduation. Through it are versi 
 fied translations of different Latin verses ; and in trem 
 bling pencil-strokes of later days, the following lines 
 are traced : 
 
 " I am growing fit, I hope, for a better world, of which the 
 light of the sun is but a shadow ; for I doubt not ^but God s 
 works here, are what come nearest to his works there j and 
 that a true relish of the beauties of nature is the most easy 
 preparation and gentlest transition to an enjoyment of those of 
 heaven : I m endeavoring to put my mind into as quiet a 
 situation as I can, to be ready to receive that stroke which, I 
 believe, is coming upon me, and have fully resigned myself to 
 yield to it. The separation of my soul and body is what I 
 could think of with less pain ; for I am sure he that made it 
 will take care of it, and in whatever state he pleases it shall 
 be, that state must be right. But I cannot think without tears 
 of being separated from my friends, when their condition is so 
 doubtful, that they may want even such assistance as mine. 
 Sure, it is more merciful to take from us after death all 
 memory of what we loved or pursued here : for else what a 
 torment would it be to a spirit, still to love those creatures it 
 is quite divided from ! Unless we suppose, that in a more 
 exalted life, all that we esteemed in this imperfect state will 
 affect us no more, than what we lov d in our infancy concerns 
 us now." 1 
 
 On the inner side of the last cover is written, 
 
 " Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view 
 Who stand upon the threshold of the new." 
 
 And again, 
 
 " Stronger by weakness, wiser men become 
 As they draw near to their eternal home." 2 
 
 1 Letters of Alexander Pope. 2 Waller. 
 
 >*] 
 
GRAVE OF FRENEAU 
 
Chapter Eleventh 
 
 FOR reasons already given, we deem it best to 
 give the criticisms of others upon the poetry 
 of Freneau, and begin with the remarks of a 
 London publisher 1 who, notwithstanding Freneau s 
 hostile feeling towards all that savored in the least 
 of Great Britain, has had the magnanimity to over 
 look all such sentiment, and bring before the public, 
 of his own free will, a reproduction of the volume of 
 Freneau s poems, as published by Francis Bailey of 
 Philadelphia in the year 1786. In his introduction to 
 the British public he says : "It has been remarked 
 with justice that, in the states which have arisen out 
 of the British settlements in America, literature as a 
 profession is a thing of recent growth. Till within 
 the present century, it was only taken up as a matter 
 of taste, and at leisure, from time to time, by those 
 whose lives were absorbed in other duties and other 
 pursuits, and most frequently took its character from 
 temporary feelings and impulses. It hence happens 
 that a good proportion of the best of the older 
 American literature was temporary in its character, 
 and has become more or less obsolete even in America, 
 and it is only very considerable excellence that has 
 preserved some of it from comparative oblivion. To 
 this latter class belongs the poet whose works are 
 given in the present volume, and who arrived at fame 
 amidst the turbulence of the revolutionary period." 
 
 After giving a synopsis of the poet s varied career, 
 he mentions his first notable poem composed in his 
 
 1 John Russell Smith, Soho Sq., London, 1861. 
 
 \2II\ 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 sophomore year while at Nassau Hall, Princeton 
 College, which, he says, is distinguished both by the 
 vigor and the correctness of its versification. " His 
 poetic satires against the royalists established his repu 
 tation in America, and all these show great talent ; and 
 some of his severer satires, such as that on his literary 
 opponent whom he addresses under the name of Mac 
 Swiggin, are characterized by great power." 
 
 As this poem gives an insight into Philip s character, 
 his intense love for nature in her varied forms, his 
 lack of desire for fame, yet innate knowledge of 
 his own powers, did he desire to gain it, his scorn for 
 all that was low or base in mankind, and his con 
 scious superiority over a rival whom he has it in the 
 power of his two-edged sword to annihilate ; and fur 
 thermore as it illustrates that which we have already 
 said : his being as much dreaded by a foe, as he was 
 loved as a friend, we will quote some portions of it : 
 
 " Long have I sat on this disastrous shore, 
 And, sighing, sought to gain a passage o er 
 To Europe s towns, where, as our travellers say, 
 Poets may flourish, or, perhaps they may ; 
 But such abuse has from your coarse pen fell 
 I think I may defer my voyage as well, 
 Why should I far in search of honour roam, 
 And dunces leave to triumph here at home ? 
 Great Jove in wrath a spark of genius gave, 
 And bade me drink the mad Pierian wave 
 Hence came these rhymes, with truth ascrib d to me. 
 That swell thy little soul to jealousy : 
 If thus, tormented at these flighty lays, 
 You strive to blast what ne er was meant for praise, 
 How will you bear the more exalted rhyme 
 By labour polish d and matur d by time ? 
 
 Devoted madman ! what inspir d thy rage, 
 Who bade thy foolish muse with me engage ? 
 Against a windmill would st thou try thy might, 
 Against a giant would a pigmy fight ? 
 [ 212 ] 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 What could thy slanderous pen with malice arm ? 
 
 To injure him, who never did thee harm ? 
 
 Have I from thee been urgent to attain 
 
 The mean ideas of thy barren brain ? 
 
 Have I been seen in borrowed clothes to shine, 
 
 And, when detected, swear by Jove they re mine ? 
 
 miscreant, hostile to thine own repose, 
 From thy own envy thy destruction flows ! 
 
 Bless d be our western world its scenes conspire 
 To raise a poet s fancy and his lire, 
 Lo, blue-topt mountains to the skies ascend ! 
 Lo, shady forests to the breezes bend ! 
 See mighty streams meandering to the main ! 
 See lambs and lambkins sport on every plain ! 
 The spotted herds in flowery meadows see ! 
 But what, ungenerous wretch, are these to thee ! 
 You find no charms in all that nature yields, 
 Then leave to me the grottoes and the fields : 
 
 1 interfere not with your vast design 
 Pursue your studies, and I 11 follow mine, 
 Pursue well pleas d your theologic schemes, 
 Attend professors, and correct your themes, 
 Still some dull nonsense, low-bred wit invent, 
 Or prove from scripture what it never meant, 
 Or far through law, that land of scoundrels, stray, 
 And truth disguise through all your mazy way. 
 Wealth you may gain, your clients you may squeeze, 
 And, by long cheating, learn to live at ease ; 
 
 If but in Wood or Littleton well read, 
 
 The devil shall help you to your daily bread. 
 
 O waft me far, ye muses of the west 
 Give me your green bowers and soft seats of rest 
 Thrice happy in those dear retreats to find 
 A safe retirement from all human kind 
 Though dire misfortunes every step attend, 
 The muse, still social, still remains a friend 
 In solitude her converse gives delight, 
 With gay poetic dreams she cheers the night, 
 She aids me, shields me, bears me on her wings, 
 In spite of growling whelps, to high, exalted things, 
 
 [213} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Beyond the miscreants that my peace molest, 
 Miscreants, with dullness and with rage opprest. 
 
 Hail, great Mac Swiggen ! foe to honest fame, 
 Patron of dunces, and thyself the same, 
 You dream of conquest tell me, how, or whence ? 
 Act like a man and combat me with sense 
 This evil have I known, and known but once, 
 Thus to be gall d and slander d by a dunce, 
 Saw rage and weakness join their dastard plan 
 To crush the shadow, not attack the man. 
 Assist me, gods, to drive this dog of rhyme 
 Back to the torments of his native clime, 
 Where dullness mingles with her native earth, 
 And rhymes, not worth the pang that gave them birth ! 
 Where did he learn to write or talk with men 
 A senseless blockhead, with a scribbling pen 
 In vile acrostics thou may st please the fair, 
 Not less than with thy looks and powder d hair, 
 But strive no more with rhyme to daunt thy foes, 
 Or, by the flame that in my bosom glows, 
 The muse on thee shall her worst fury spend, 
 And hemp or water thy vile being end. 
 
 Aspers d like me, who would not grieve and rage ! 
 Who would not burn, Mac Swiggen to engage ? 
 Him and his friends, a mean, designing race, 
 I, singly I, must combat face to face 
 Alone I stand to meet the foul-mouth d train, 
 Assisted by no poets of the plain, 
 Whose timorous Muses cannot swell their theme 
 Beyond a meadow or a purling stream 
 Were not my breast impervious to despair 
 And did not Clio reign unrivall d there, 
 I must expire beneath the ungenerous host, 
 And dullness triumph o er a poet lost. 
 
 Come on, Mac Swiggen, come your muse is willing, 
 Your prose is merry, but your verse is killing 
 Come on attack me with your choicest rhymes, 
 Sound void of sense betrays the unmeaning chimes 
 
 (* *] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Come, league your forces ; all your wit combine, 
 Your wit not equal to the bold design 
 The heaviest arms the Muse can give, I wield, 
 To stretch Mac Swiggen floundering on the field, 
 Swiggen, who, aided by some spurious Muse, 
 But bellows nonsense, and but writes abuse, 
 Swiggen, immortal and unfading grown, 
 But by no deeds or merits of his own 
 So, when some hateful monster sees the day, 
 In spirits we preserve it from decay, 
 But for what end, it is not hard to guess 
 Not for its value, but its ugliness." 
 
 1775. 
 
 " Freneau s longest and most carefully written 
 poems were : c The House of Night/ c The Jamaica 
 Funeral/ and c The Beauties of Santa Cruz ; his most 
 admired is c The British Prison Ship/ 
 
 " The influence of Freneau s wandering and un 
 settled life is visible in his liter ary labors, a large 
 portion of which were inspired by the stirring events 
 that were passing around him. For this reason, per 
 haps, he is not so well known as many other writers 
 to the general reader, even in his own country ; while 
 the fierce hostility to England and King George which 
 the great revolutionary struggle had raised in his 
 mind, and which he expresses in very unmeasured 
 language, prevented his being popular among English 
 men, who, indeed, have been generally neglectful of 
 the literature of America. Yet Freneau, as the patriot 
 poet/ long enjoyed a very extensive popularity among 
 his own countrymen, and no doubt he deserves to 
 stand among their best poets. There is an ease in his 
 verse, combined with a great command of language, 
 and, at the same time, a simplicity of expression and 
 delicacy of handling, which makes us regret that it 
 was so often employed on subjects the interest of 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 which was of a temporary character. Many of his 
 poems of a more miscellaneous character present 
 beauties of no ordinary kind, while the playful or 
 satirical humour of others is perfect." 
 
 On the evening of March thirteenth of the year 
 1883, Professor James D. Murray of Princeton Col 
 lege delivered a lecture upon the poet and his poetry 
 before the Long Island Historical Society in the soci 
 ety s building. In regard to his poetry, which is the 
 only portion of the lecture that we shall quote in this 
 chapter, he said : " Freneau was a genius in his way, 
 and had brilliant instincts. Some of his poetry sprung 
 from the intense flame of oppression, and as a poet he 
 blew it to a white heat. He was possessed of an im 
 petuous flow of song for freedom, and his wit was 
 pungent and stinging. That he used this with effect 
 can readily be seen by any person who reads his sup 
 posed interview with King George and Fox. Then 
 take his exquisite dirge of the heroes of Eutaw Springs, 
 his odes like c Benedict Arnold s Departure ; some 
 parts of them are unrivalled. His works show that 
 he imitated in some degree both Gray and Shelley. 
 Campbell and Scott did not hesitate to borrow from 
 him. . . . His literary essays were also in this peculiar 
 vein ; for instance, his c Advice to Authors,* his c Ora 
 tion upon Rum/ and a series of character sketches. 
 His c City Burying Places antedates some of our 
 modern suggestions. " 
 
 " There was no difficulty in versification with him," 
 wrote Dr. Francis. " I told him what I had heard 
 Jeffrey, the eminent Scotch reviewer, say of his writ 
 ings, that the time would arrive when his poetry, like 
 that of Hudibras, would command a commentator like 
 Grey." 
 
 " The poetry of the revolutionary era was not of 
 an exhilarating character certainly, for with the out 
 breaking of hostilities there came an outburst otherwise 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 than tuneful of patriotic ballads, songs, and doggerel 
 satires, to all of which at this distance the sounds of 
 the combatants fife and drum seems a fitting accom 
 paniment. One poet there was, however, who may 
 justly be awarded that title on account of the occa 
 sional lyrics which are in pleasing contrast with the 
 verses of his contemporaries ; some of which are char 
 acterized by a grace and tenderness as well as by a 
 skilful versification that gives them a peculiar charm. 
 Freneau wrote for a purpose, and that purpose accom 
 plished he was satisfied ; had he striven to be or become 
 a poet in the best sense of the word, he might have be 
 come one, but he used his gift as a means to an end, 
 occasionally solacing his moments of freedom from 
 care by using his pen for his pleasure, but this was 
 seldom." x 
 
 "He depicts land and naval fights with much ani 
 mation and gay coloring ; and being himself a son of 
 old Neptune, he is never at a loss for appropriate cir 
 cumstances and expressive diction when the scene lies 
 at sea. His martial and political ballads are free from 
 bombast and affectation, and often have an arch simplic 
 ity in their manner that renders them very poignant and 
 striking. If the ballads and songs of Dibdin have 
 cheered the spirits and incited the valor of the British 
 Tars, the strains of Freneau, in like manner, are cal 
 culated to impart patriotic impulses to the hearts of 
 his countrymen, and their effect in this way should be 
 taken as a test of their merit. Many of his composi 
 tions relating to persons and things now forgotten are 
 no longer interesting, but he evinced more genius and 
 more enthusiasm than any other poet whose powers 
 were called into action during the great struggle for 
 liberty, and was the most distinguished poet of our 
 revolutionary period. 
 
 "It is not to be forgotten, however, that Freneau 
 
 1 Centennial Journals, 188. 
 
 [**7] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 had other claims to attention as a poet, than his liter 
 ary association with the events of the Revolution. 
 He was essentially of a poetic mood, and had many 
 traits of rare excellence in the divine art. His mind 
 was warmed into admiration at the beauties of land 
 scape; his conceptions were imaginative; visionary 
 scenes swarmed before his imagination ; and the same 
 susceptibility of mind which led him to invest with 
 interest the fading fortunes of the Indian, and Nature s 
 prodigality in the luxurious scenery of the tropics, 
 made him keenly appreciative of the humble ways 
 and manners of his race. The practical Captain Fre 
 neau combined humor with fancy, and his Muse, laying 
 aside what Milton termed c her singing robes,* could 
 wear with ease the garments of every-day life. The 
 common, once familiar incidents and manners of his 
 time will be found pleasantly reflected in many a 
 quaint picture in his poems." * 
 
 " The poems of Philip Freneau," if we may be al 
 lowed here to repeat our estimate of his powers from 
 a sketch written some years ago, " represent his times, 
 the war of wit and verse no less than of sword and 
 stratagem of the Revolution ; and he superadds to 
 this material a humorous simplicity peculiarly his own, 
 in which he paints the life of village rustics, with their 
 local manners fresh about them ; of days when tavern de 
 lights were to be freely spoken of, before temperance 
 societies and Maine laws were thought of; when men 
 went to prison at the summons of inexorable creditors, 
 and when Connecticut deacons rushed out of meeting 
 to arrest and waylay the passing Sunday traveller. 
 When these humours of the day were exhausted, and 
 the impulses of patriotism were gratified in song, when 
 he had paid his respects to Rivington and Hugh 
 Gaines, he solaced himself with remoter themes : 
 in the version of an ode of Horace, a visionary 
 
 i Giulian C. Verplanck, in Analectic Magazine. 
 
 \2l8\ 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 meditation on the antiquities of America, or a sen 
 timental effusion on the loves of Sappho. These show 
 the fine tact and delicate handling of Freneau, who 
 deserves much more consideration in this respect from 
 critics than he has received. A writer from whom the 
 fastidious Campbell, in his best day, thought it worth 
 while to borrow an entire line, is worth looking into. 
 It is from Freneau s " Indian Bury ing- Ground," the 
 last image of that fine visionary stanza : 
 
 u By midnight moons, o er moistening dews, 
 
 In vestments for the chase array d, 
 The hunter still the deer pursues, 
 
 The hunter and the deer a shade. 
 
 " Campbell has given this line a rich setting in 
 O Conner s Child : 
 
 " Now on the grass-green turf he sits, 
 His tasselPd horn beside him laid ; 
 Now o er the hills in chase he flits, 
 The hunter and the deer a shade? 
 
 <c There is also a line of Sir Walter Scott which has 
 its prototype in Freneau. In the introduction to the 
 third canto of c Marmion/ in the apostrophe to the 
 Duke of Brunswick, we read : 
 
 " c Lamented chief! not thine the power 
 
 To save in that presumptuous hour, 
 When Prussia hurried to the field, 
 
 And match* d the spear but left the shield? 
 
 "In Freneau s poem on the heroes of Eutaw, we 
 have this stanza : 
 
 " c They saw their injur d country s woe ; 
 The flaming town, the wasted field, 
 Then rush d to meet the insulting foe ; 
 
 They took the spear but left the shield/ 
 
 " An anecdote which the late Henry Brevoort was 
 accustomed to relate of his visit to Scott, affords as- 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 surance that the poet was really indebted to Freneau, 
 and that he would not, on a proper occasion, have 
 hesitated to acknowledge the obligation. Mr. Bre- 
 voort was asked by Scott respecting the authorship 
 of certain verses on the battle of Eutaw, which he had 
 seen in a magazine, and had by heart, and which he 
 knew were American. He was told that they were 
 by Freneau, when he (Scott) remarked, The poem is 
 as fine a thing as there is of the kind in the language. 
 Scott also praised one of the Indian poems. 
 
 " Freneau surprises us often by his neatness of exe 
 cution and skill in versification. He handles a triple- 
 rhymed stanza in the octosyllabic measure particularly 
 well. His appreciation of nature is tender and sym 
 pathetic, one of the pure springs which fed the 
 more boisterous current of his humour when he came 
 out among men, to deal with quackery, pretence, and 
 injustice. But what is, perhaps, most worthy of 
 notice in Freneau is his originality, the instinct with 
 which his genius marked out a path for itself in those 
 days when most writers were languidly leaning upon 
 the old foreign school of Pope and Dryden. He was 
 not afraid of home things and incidents. Dealing 
 with facts and realities, and the life around him, 
 wherever he was, his writings have still an interest 
 where the vague expressions of other poets are for 
 gotten. It is not to be denied, however, that Fre 
 neau was sometimes careless. He thought and wrote 
 with improvidence. His jests are sometimes misdi 
 rected ; and his verses are unequal in execution. Yet 
 it is not too much to predict that, through the genuine 
 nature of some of his productions, and the historic 
 incidents of others, all that he wrote will yet be called 
 for, and find favour in numerous editions." 
 
 " Freneau s originality was very marked. He fol- 
 
 1 Cyclopaedia of American Literature. The remainder of this chapter 
 is taken from Mr. Edward Delancey s address to the Huguenot Society. 
 
 {220} 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 lowed not in the steps of Dryden, nor any other of 
 the poets of the Augustan age ; nor, like his contem 
 poraries Trumbull and Barlow, in those of Young and 
 Pope. Not only did he not follow classic example, 
 but he struck out a style of his own. Free, clear, and 
 expressive, he cast aside the trammels of the stately 
 verse in which his predecessors and contemporaries 
 delighted, and wrote just as he seems to have felt, and 
 in whatever way he deemed most appropriate to his 
 subject. Although careless in his rhymes at times, he 
 was, nevertheless, always effective. 
 
 " So long was his life that he wrote some of his 
 finest poems after the advent of that brilliant galaxy 
 of poets who burst forth in the early part of this 
 nineteenth century. But not a trace of Moore, 
 Southey, Campbell, Rogers, Scott, Wordsworth, or 
 Byron, is to be found in the last two small volumes 
 of his poems which he gave to the world in 1815. 
 
 " Freneau s prose writings were of two kinds : brief 
 essays on many subjects, after the manner of the 
 Spectator and the Tatler ; and travels and reports of 
 an imaginary character, related and made to their 
 kings by an inhabitant of Otaheite and a Creek 
 Indian, after their return from civilized lands, after 
 the example of Voltaire. To these may be added his 
 political disquisitions and translations from French 
 historical writers. The best of the former were 
 written over the pen-name of c Robert Slender/ All 
 are pleasing, witty, humorous, easy and agreeable, 
 and show great and close power of observation. His 
 political writings, action, and opinions are a most in 
 teresting theme, but they would require a full essay to 
 be adequately presented. ,The ardor of his nature 
 and the firmness of his opinions, with the vigor and 
 terseness of his style, made him an adversary to be 
 feared. 
 
 " During the period of his sea life is to be ascribed 
 
 [221} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 some of his finest and most perfect descriptions of 
 nature, especially of nature in the tropics. Two 
 poems, one styled c The Beauties of Santa Cruz/ 
 and the other descriptive of the shores of Carolina and 
 Charleston, are instinct with true poetic fire. His 
 versified translations from the Latin show how well 
 his college days were spent, and how late in life he 
 kept up his classic studies. No finer rendition of the 
 fifteenth ode of the first book of Horace, Nereus s 
 prophecy of the destruction of Troy, than Freneau s 
 exists ; while his translation of Gray s famous c Ode 
 written at the Grande Chartreuse,* is as striking and 
 beautiful as the original itself. 
 
 " Freneau s poetry may be considered in three 
 classes, war lyrics and satires; poems on general 
 subjects and descriptions of nature; and translations 
 from the classic poets and those of Italy and France ; 
 with a few which do not strictly fall under either of 
 these heads. They vary greatly in style and finish, 
 some wanting much of the latter quality. Freneau 
 was naturally impulsive, inclined to indolence, and 
 often careless ; and his verse sometimes reflects his 
 moods. He seems to have written just as the inci 
 dent or event happened which formed his theme, or 
 as the idea he expressed occurred to him. Like many 
 men of active intellect and quick perceptions, he lacked 
 application. Content to write for the hour, and satis 
 fied if the effect or object aimed at was secured, he 
 little regarded the future of the children of his brain. 
 Hence he has left us no great narrative poem and no 
 epic. 
 
 " His verse is wonderful for its ease, simplicity, 
 humor, great command of language, and delicacy of 
 handling. Except Dryden and Byron no poet of 
 America or England has shown himself a greater 
 master of English or of rhyme. The luxuriance of 
 his stanzas is something amazing. Only to the tern- 
 
 [222] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 porary nature of the subjects of most of his verse, 
 especially of his satires, can be ascribed the des 
 uetude into which his poems have fallen. In vigor, 
 sentiment, playfulness, and humor, many of them 
 cannot be surpassed, and their beauties of form and 
 expression are as great now as when they were first 
 given to the world. 
 
 " But Freneau possessed other and deeper poetic 
 gifts. We have all wondered at and admired the 
 poems of that strange son of genius of our day, the 
 late Edgar Allan Poe. Yet the strange power of that 
 extraordinary man existed also in the earlier poet. 
 His c House of Night a Vision prefigured the 
 wondrous conceptions of the author of The Raven/ 
 Though not at all alike, there is in the supernatural 
 weirdness of each a similarity. Freneau s dreamer, 
 wandering at midnight in a dark wood, comes upon a 
 noble dome. Entering and ascending, he hears ( a 
 hollow voice of loud lament from out a vaulted 
 chamber, which proves to be that of Death personified 
 in human form, stretched on his dying bed. He is 
 attended by the castle s lord, who has just suffered a 
 heavy affliction; and who, in obedience to the divine 
 precept, c If thine enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst 
 give him drink/ tries to assuage his sufferings, but at 
 the same time tells him that his end is inevitable. 
 Death gives him certain directions, orders his own 
 burial, and dies in the greatest agony. Then follows 
 a most vivid description of the burial. The vision 
 ends ; the dreamer awakes, and the poem closes with 
 some reflections on Death. 
 
 " Another, and very different gift which Freneau 
 possessed in an extraordinary degree was his power 
 of invective. In this, some of his satires rival the 
 c Absalom and Achitophel, and c English Bards and 
 Scotch Reviewers in vigor, as well as in the torrent- 
 like flow of the verse. Listen to these lines upon an 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 opponent who had attacked him in abusive rhyme, and 
 whom, under an odd name, he has immortalized : 
 
 " c Hail, great Mac Swiggen, " etc. 
 
 As Mac Swiggen has already been served up to our 
 readers we will spare them the remainder of the 
 quotation. 
 
 " This is certainly equal to Dryden," that is, Mac 
 Swiggen s eulogy, not our digression, " yet Freneau 
 wrote it when only twenty-three." 
 
 In speaking of another of Freneau s early poems, 
 one written at the age of eighteen while at Nassau 
 Hall, and which we have mentioned in his college 
 life, this author, after quoting several portions of it, 
 says : 
 
 " Is not this true poetry ? Is it not extraordinary 
 as the work of a youth of eighteen years? But one 
 other American poet ever wrote anything to com 
 pare with it so early in life. Bryant wrote at nine 
 teen his Thanatopsis, and never later did he 
 surpass that poem, although it contains but eighty- 
 one lines. 
 
 "Totally dissimilar as these two poets were, in 
 almost every characteristic, physical and mental, Fre 
 neau being as warm as Bryant was cold, there was yet 
 a singular parallelism in their literary careers. Both 
 were educated men, both college graduates, Freneau of 
 Princeton, Bryant of Williams ; both wrote as mere 
 youths, and wrote then as men of twice their ages 
 might be proud to write. Both studied law and then 
 threw it aside. Both became hot politicians and fierce 
 political writers. Both had an irresistible desire to pub 
 lish newspapers, and both became editors of their own 
 papers, and editors of power. Both wrote vigorous, 
 nervous, yet polished prose. Both continued to write 
 poetry during their whole lives. Both were eminent as 
 translators of the ancient classics. Both made purely 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 literary ventures, and both wrote satires, and bitter ones. 
 Both became involved in personal conflicts. Both wrote 
 strongly against slavery. Both were eminently wor 
 shippers, as well as poets of nature. Both, as their 
 lives grew apace, left the press to others, and passed 
 their latter days in quiet retirement. And both en 
 joyed almost the longest span of life allotted to man, 
 Freneau dying in his eighty-first, and Bryant in his 
 eighty-sixth year. 
 
 " But here the parallel ends, for, unlike Bryant, 
 Freneau wrote better in later life than in youth, and 
 his range of subjects and kinds of verse were wider and 
 more varied. Bryant possessed great application, how 
 ever, while Freneau had little. In fact the latter was 
 too versatile for his own good. 
 
 " Such was the poetry of the Huguenot patriot of 
 the Revolution. Born eight years before the death of 
 George the Second, and living far into the presidency 
 of the seventh ruler of the United States, General 
 Andrew Jackson, Philip Freneau is the only poet 
 whose ringing verse roused alike the hearts and nerved 
 the arms of two generations of Americans against 
 England. He immortalized alike the successes of 
 the Revolution and those of the war of 1812. He 
 sang, with equal spirit, force, and fire, the glory of 
 Trenton and the triumph of Chippewa, the conqueror 
 of Yorktown and the victor of Niagara. He sang, too, 
 the heroic battles of Paul Jones on the German Ocean, 
 and those of Perry and McDonough on the waves of 
 Erie and the waters of Champlain, and also, but in 
 sadder strains, the fate of Andre and the death of 
 Ross." 
 
 We have several times mentioned the poem on 
 the battle of " Eutaw Springs " and as it is, in our 
 opinion, the most beautiful of all Freneau s poems 
 we will close this chapter on his writings by giving 
 it to our readers. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 EUTAW SPRINGS. 
 
 At Eutaw Springs the valiant died : 
 
 Their limbs with dust are covered o er ; 
 
 Weep on, ye springs, your tearful tide ; 
 How many heroes are no more ! 
 
 If in this wreck of ruin, they 
 
 Can yet be thought to claim a tear, 
 
 O smite thy gentle breast, and say 
 The friends of freedom slumber here! 
 
 Thou who shalt trace this bloody plain, 
 If goodness rules thy generous breast, 
 
 Sigh for the wasted rural reign ; 
 
 Sigh for the shepherds sunk to rest ! 
 
 Stranger, their humble graves adorn ; 
 
 You too may fall and ask a tear : 
 T is not the beauty of the morn 
 
 That proves the evening shall be clear. 
 
 They saw their injured country s woe, 
 The flaming town, the wasted field 
 
 Then rushed to meet the insulting foe ; 
 They took the spear but left the shield. 
 
 Led by thy conquering standards, Greene, 
 The Britons they compelled to fly ; 
 
 None distant viewed the fatal plain, 
 None grieved in such a cause to die 
 
 But like the Parthians, famed of old, 
 Who, flying, still their arrows threw, 
 
 These routed Britons, full as bold, 
 Retreated, and retreating slew. 
 
 Now rest in peace, our patriot band ; 
 
 Though far from nature s limits thrown, 
 We trust they find a happier land, 
 
 A brighter Phoebus of their own. 
 
 1786. 
 
 [226] 
 
Chapter Twelfth 
 
 IT would seem that the name of Freneau was likely 
 to die out. Philip was the only descendant of 
 the American branch that had a family ; and his 
 four children were all daughters. The two younger 
 ones, Catherine Ledyard and Margaret, never married ; 
 his eldest daughter, Helen Denise, married Mr. John 
 Hammill, a merchant of New York, and had four 
 daughters ; none of whom have left any descendants. 
 
 Agnes Watson Freneau, the poet s second and 
 favorite child, is said to have been beautiful in her 
 youth, and she retained much of her beauty even to 
 an advanced age. She was a person of rare intelli 
 gence and refinement of taste, and possessed an active 
 and vigorous temperament and a genial and sociable 
 disposition. She inherited from both parents a great 
 love for poetry and other literature, and like them she 
 was a great reader, and a charming conversationalist. 
 Her tastes were much the same as those of her father, 
 which fact seemed to bind them even more closely to 
 gether, and cause them to be almost constant com 
 panions from the time Agnes was old enough to be 
 companionable to him. She frequently accompanied 
 her father to New York to attend dinner and card 
 parties, then greatly in vogue ; and her vivacity and 
 personal attractiveness caused her to be much admired. 
 
 But, notwithstanding Agnes love of society, she 
 was capable of deep thought, and her memory was so 
 retentive that even to old age she has entertained her 
 friends by reciting, at some length, passages from her 
 favorite poets that she had committed to memory in 
 her young days. She also composed some creditable 
 poems, but our informant says that she probably 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 either destroyed them, or gave them away, as they 
 were not found among her papers. 
 
 In the year 1816 Agnes married Mr. Edward Lead- 
 beater, a prominent merchant of New York, and grad 
 uate of Trinity College, Dublin, formerly a surgeon 
 in the British army. He was a son of Dr. Henry 
 Leadbeater, a prominent physician, who owned a fine 
 estate near Coote Hill, County Cavan, Ireland. Dr. 
 Leadbeater was physician to, as well as an intimate 
 friend of, Lord Beresford, who was foremost in church 
 and state. He and his son, Agnes husband, were 
 fond of fox-hunting, and kept fine hounds for the 
 purpose. An old gentleman, who died within the last 
 decade of years, aged ninety, remembered them well, 
 and enjoyed talking of them ; he said they entertained 
 the nobility a great deal. 1 
 
 Mr. Edward Leadbeater s aunt by marriage was an 
 authoress of some note, and was an intimate friend of 
 Miss Maria Edgeworth. Miss Edgeworth wrote the 
 preface for Mrs. Leadbeater s work, entitled " Poems 
 and College Dialogues." Mrs. Leadbeater also left 
 a manuscript history of the events in the family and 
 neighborhood, entitled " Annals of Ballytown," which, 
 with her correspondence with the mother of Archbishop 
 Trench of Dublin, and also with the poet Crabbe, were 
 published in two volumes by Fisher, under the title of 
 " Leadbeater Papers." Many of the anecdotes con 
 tained in her " Annals " were gained in her frequent 
 visits among the poor, in company with the wife of the 
 Episcopal minister, the Rev. Mr. Pyncheon. Mrs. 
 Leadbeater was a Miss Shackleton, daughter and 
 sister of the two presidents of Ballytore School, in 
 which Edmund Burke first studied ; the second presi 
 dent, son of the former one, was his schoolmate and 
 friend. 
 
 1 Dr. Leadbeater had an offer of knighthood, but he declined the 
 proffered courtesy. 
 
 [228} 
 
AGNES WATSON FRENEAU LEADBEATER 
 
 Favorite Daughter of the Poet 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Mr. Edward Leadbeater s sister, Alicia, arrived in 
 America with her husband and son, Henry, the same 
 year in which her brother married Miss Freneau. 
 Alicia had married Mr. Patrick O Reilly, a merchant, 
 who, in the great financial crisis attending the downfall 
 of Napoleon First, had become seriously involved, and, 
 meeting with little sympathy from their relatives, the 
 young couple emigrated to America. Shortly after 
 their arrival Mr. O Reilly visited the island of Cuba, 
 where he had relatives, but died of yellow fever almost 
 immediately upon his arrival there. One of the prin 
 cipal streets of Havana is named after the family of 
 the Marquis O Reilly, formerly Governor-General of 
 Louisiana when under the Spanish rule, and afterwards 
 of Cuba. 
 
 There was a little romance in the history of Alicia 
 and her husband ; both having drawn upon themselves 
 the great displeasure of their relatives, each being the 
 first to marry into the religion peculiarly obnoxious to 
 their respective families. Alicia s husband was a Cath 
 olic, while she belonged to the Church of England, 
 and her family let her feel the weight of their displeas 
 ure, while his were even more greatly displeased. 
 That he should unite himself to a heretic, and one of 
 that hated religion that had been the cause of their 
 losing their extensive possessions, titles, and religious 
 rights, was a crime not to be forgiven. 
 
 The family of Alicia s husband had suffered greatly 
 from the penal laws, but they were stanch in their 
 faith ; their sons, for generations, had been sent abroad 
 to study, and many of them preferred to settle in for 
 eign lands rather than return to a country in which 
 their religion was held in opprobrium, and in which 
 they had been denied their commonest rights, the 
 possessions and titles of their ancestors, which were the 
 earldom of Cavan and marquisate of Breffney. 
 
 Two of the relatives of Alicia s husband had held 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 the archbishopric of Armagh. The one, Hugh 
 O Reilly, whose signature is even now seen on the 
 manifestoes of 1741 as Hugo Armacansis, headed the 
 Confederates of Kilkenny when the chiefs of Ulster 
 rose in arms to contend for their rights and religious 
 liberty, and to secure the lands of their ancestors of 
 which they had been despoiled by the confiscation 
 called the " Plantation of Ulster," by which James the 
 First seized on the hereditary possessions of the Irish 
 chiefs and transferred them to his followers. 
 
 The other, Daniel O Reilly, was private chaplain 
 to Maria Theresa, of Austria, and so won her good 
 will that she used her influence with the Holy Father 
 to have him, upon his desire to return to his native 
 land, appointed Archbishop of Armagh. The Em 
 press, however, retained his brother Andrew in her 
 service, appointing him first to the command of her 
 advanced posts in northern Italy and of the fortress 
 of Lecco on Lake Como. She passed him through 
 all the military grades in the Austrian army save that 
 of Field Marshal. Andrew signalized himself in the 
 service of his adopted country, and at the battle of 
 Austerlitz by his bravery and skill saved the last 
 of the army from total destruction. As Governor 
 of Vienna, Count O Reilly had the difficult task of 
 capitulating honorably with Napoleon. 1 
 
 The late Mr. Henry O Reilly had in his possession 
 a letter written on vellum from Count Andrew 
 O Reilly to his brother Daniel, after the latter s return 
 to Ireland as Archbishop of Armagh. 2 Other relics 
 
 1 Napoleon remarked as he entered Vienna, " It is strange that on 
 each occasion in November, 1805, as on this day on arriving in the 
 Austrian capital, I find myself in treaty and in intercourse with the 
 respectable General O Reilly. It was the dragoon regiment of O Reilly s 
 command, le Troisieme Chevaux Legeres, that by their brilliant charge at 
 Austerlitz saved the remnant of the Austrian army, December 2, 1805." 
 
 2 Lord Edward Fitzgerald was related to this family. It is said that 
 the White House, Washington, was modelled from his residence. The 
 house of Talbot de Malahide is connected with it by marriage. 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Mr. O Reilly had in his possession, amongst which 
 were a set of etchings to which is attached a history. 
 A grand-uncle, for the great misdemeanor of acting upon 
 his rights as a Catholic priest to say mass, saw, as he 
 was passing through the streets carrying these etchings, 
 placards being posted around for his apprehension, to 
 which a reward was attached. Thinking his best 
 safety lay in flight, he started for the shore, and made 
 arrangements for his passage to a place of safety. 
 During the passage, the sailors were conversing 
 about the reward, and fearing they suspected him, 
 the priest acknowledged his identity, and threw him 
 self upon their protection. He was not mistaken in 
 his countrymen ; they landed him out of danger, with 
 the etchings under his arm, and he made his way to 
 Antwerp, where he became president of the university 
 of that city. 
 
 Other members of the family went to other coun 
 tries, in all of which they rose to distinction. There 
 is a pretty legend in the family which runneth 
 thus : 
 
 "At the time of the invasion of Ireland by the 
 Danes, Brian O Reileigh, as the name was at that 
 time spelled, of Balaraharnahan, was sent out in com 
 mand of a scouting party by the commander-in-chief 
 of the Irish forces, and at the hour of noon on a very 
 warm day in August stopped to rest on the margin 
 of one of the enchanted lakes of Kilkenny. Enrap 
 tured with the romantic scenery and placid waters 
 spread out before him, he lingered long after his 
 allotted time, and the first thing he knew he was sur 
 rounded by a large Danish force. Remembering that 
 an old fairy, a particular friend of his family, resided 
 in that vicinity, he called on her for assistance. She 
 appeared to him, and showed him the only way by 
 which he could escape a narrow pass through the 
 mountains. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 " c But, said she, ( if that be guarded, there is noth 
 ing left for you save by the strong arm. 1 Fight your 
 way through, and the fairies will befriend the destiny 
 of the O Reileighs to the latest generation/ 
 
 " He found the pass defended by countless myriads 
 of Danish spears, but he went through by force of the 
 strong arm^ losing scarcely a man." 
 
 It will be seen from the legend that the name has 
 seen some changes from the first, and Henry O Rielly 
 changed it yet further, as in early days, the Irish 
 names not being so well known as at present, he was 
 constantly called as if the ei were double e. It was to 
 avoid this pronunciation that he spelled his name con 
 trary to the usual way, reversing the letters e and /. 
 Probably it was for a similar reason that Philip Fre 
 neau left the letter s out of his name, as Americans 
 would in all probability sound it as it was spelled, 
 " Frejneau." 
 
 On account ot the death of his father, Mr. Edward 
 Leadbeater went to Ireland to settle up the estate, but 
 finding that it would cause a greater delay than he had 
 anticipated, he returned to America to put his affairs 
 in order for a prolonged absence ; but before he had 
 succeeded in doing so, he fell ill, and died in the spring 
 of the very year in which Philip Freneau died. His 
 death is recorded on the same page with his marriage, 
 and was the last entry made by Philip. His marriage 
 and death read thus : 
 
 " Agnes Watson Freneau, second daughter of Philip Fre 
 neau and Eleanor Forman, was married to Mr. Edward Lead- 
 beater, merchant of the city of New York, Nov. 25th, 1816, 
 by the Rev. John Croes, in the twenty-third year of her age/ 
 
 1 The name O Reilly in the Irish language signified " strong arm," 
 and the crest of the arms of the family consists of an arm and hand hold 
 ing a sword. The arms are preserved in the family and some of the 
 old plate was engraved with it. 
 
 \*3*\ 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 After this entry comes that of the marriage of her 
 sister, who although older than Agnes, was not married 
 until later. 
 
 " Helen Denise Freneau, eldest daughter of Philip and 
 Eleanor Forman Freneau, was married to Mr. John Hammill, 
 of New York, on Monday eve, Dec. I5th, 1816; both of the 
 above ceremonies at Mount Pleasant, Monmouth Co., N. Y." 
 
 " Departed this life on Friday A.M., the 2 8th day of March, 
 Mr. Edward Leadbeater, at Mount Pleasant in the forty-eighth 
 or forty-ninth year of his age, and interred in the Locust 
 Grove, at his own request, on the Sabbath day following." 
 
 Mrs. Leadbeater had six children, the youngest of 
 whom was only about six months old at the time of her 
 husband s death. Her eldest daughter, Jane, was the 
 only one whose birth was recorded by Freneau in the 
 old Bible : " Agnes Leadbeater, my second daughter, 
 had her eldest daughter, Jane Grey Leadbeater, born 
 in New York." The date is not registered. Jane 
 married Dr. Sweeny, and had two children, a son and 
 a daughter. Her eldest son, Philip, to whom was given 
 his grandfather s surname as well as his Christian name, 
 married Helen Denison, and had one daughter. Mrs. 
 Leadbeater s second daughter, Euphemia Kearny, mar 
 ried Mr. Samuel Blatchford, son of Dr. Thomas Win- 
 deatt Blatchford, a well-known physician of Troy, 
 N. Y., and grandson of the Reverend Samuel Blatch 
 ford of Devonshire, England, who came to America in 
 1795. The late Judge of the U. S. Supreme Court was 
 his cousin. Mrs. Appleton Bonaparte is likewise a 
 member of this family. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Blatch 
 ford have several children, one of whom is Captain 
 Richard Milford Blatchford of the i ith infantry,U.S.A. 
 
 Edward Henry Leadbeater married a daughter of the 
 Reverend Nehemiah Dodge. His daughter married 
 Lieutenant-commander Jacob Noel, U. S. A. Mrs. 
 Leadbeater s third daughter, Catherine Ledyard, mar- 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 ried Mr. Edward Biddle, grandson of Clement Biddle 
 of Philadelphia, who was cousin to the celebrated 
 financier, and nephew to Captain Nicholas Biddle, 
 they have had seven children, all living but one. The 
 youngest child of Mrs. Leadbeater, whom we have men 
 tioned as being only six months old at the time of her 
 father s death, married Dr. Charles Townsend Harris, 
 nephew of Townsend Harris, consul-general to Japan, 
 and the first American envoy to that country. 1 
 
 Dr. Harris, after graduating from the N. Y. Univer 
 sity, took a medical course in Paris, and afterwards 
 studied chemistry in Giessen under Baron von Liebig. 
 While in Paris Dr. Harris formed a pleasant acquaint 
 anceship with the Due. de Montpensier, which they 
 continued by correspondence after Dr. Harris return 
 to America. Dr. Harris is lineal descendant of Simon 
 Fraser, twelfth Earl of Lovat. 2 The records of this 
 family now in their possession extend back to 1631. 
 Dr. Harris left two sons and two daughters. Mrs. 
 Blatchford, Mrs. Biddle, and Mrs. Harris are yet 
 living. 
 
 At the death of Washington, Mrs. Leadbeater was 
 in her sixth year, but her recollection of him was vivid 
 till within the last few years of her life. She remem 
 bered distinctly his visiting her father s house in Phil 
 adelphia several times, and she always resented any 
 allusion to her father s want of esteem for the first 
 President, whom she admired very much. She always 
 insisted upon her father s sentiments of admiration for 
 General Washington s character, notwithstanding his 
 former violent opposition to his policy. Mrs. Lead 
 beater lived under every administration from the first 
 till Cleveland s first term inclusive. Notwithstanding 
 
 1 Mr. Griffiths has published the life of Townsend Harris under the title 
 of " Our First Diplomat to Japan." 
 
 2 There is a complete and exhaustive record of the Harris family in 
 preparation for publication. 
 
 [W] 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 her great age, she retained the use of her faculties to a 
 remarkable degree until a few years before her death. 
 She could talk by the hour of her dearly loved father, 
 and frequently entertained visitors by repeating conver 
 sations she had heard him take part in. She retained 
 much of the vivacity and even freshness of her youth 
 ful days till a late period in life. It is related of her, 
 shortly after the death of the wife of her son Philip, 
 that during their summer at Long Branch : The gov 
 ernor, who was a guest of the same hotel, announced 
 that he would open the " hop" that evening with the 
 handsomest lady there. As the hour approached, 
 and none of the beauties had been bespoken, there was 
 considerable wonderment as to who the unknown one 
 could be. Philip was in mourning for his wife, and as 
 his daughter was quite young, they did not make their 
 appearance ; but Mrs. Leadbeater, yielding to the 
 urgent solicitations of His Excellency, entered the 
 room leaning on his arm. Very lovely she looked, 
 too, in her silver-gray silk and snowy crape turban, 
 which rivalled her silvery curls ; and at the appearance 
 of her sweet face all sentiments of former jealousy were 
 allayed. She was quite unconscious of the joke, but 
 when His Excellency insisted upon her opening the 
 evening, she yielded his arm to a more youthful aspir 
 ant for the honor. 
 
 A few years before her death the exceptionally bril 
 liant faculties of Mrs. Leadbeater became clouded, 
 owing partly to a serious disaster which caused two 
 apoplectic strokes. During her last illness she re 
 ceived unremitting care from the members of her 
 household, which consisted of a daughter, two grand 
 daughters, and two great-grandchildren. This family 
 presented the rather unusual sight of four generations 
 living together. 1 
 
 1 At the present time there are living fifty-three lineal descendants of 
 the poet Freneau. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 On the sixth day of August in the year 1888, the 
 dear old lady peacefully resigned her soul into the 
 hands of her Maker. She was buried in the family 
 vault of Dr. Charles Townsend Harris at Ocean Hill, 
 Greenwood. 
 
 Among her papers we have found an account of the 
 exhumation of the body of her father s old and valued 
 friend, James Madison, the fourth President of the 
 United States. 1 The account contains a moral good 
 for us to learn, the nothingness of all that is created, 
 and that God alone is great. 
 
 u In digging for the foundation for the monument erected 
 over the grave of President Madison the coffin was exposed to 
 view. The appearance of the remains is thus described : 
 c The board placed above the coffin had decayed, but no earth 
 had fallen in upon it, and everything appeared to be as when 
 the coffin was deposited there, except that the coffin was slightly 
 out of place, allowing a partial view of the interior. As there 
 was no fastening to prevent it, the part of the lid covering the 
 superior portion of the body was raised, and several gentle 
 men present looked in upon the remains of the great Virginian. 
 The coffin itself, of black walnut, was in perfect preservation and 
 the interior was nearly filled with a species of moss, which ad 
 hered tenaciously to the wood. Beneath this, and partially 
 hidden by it were a few of the largest and hardest bones. 
 The lower jaw had fallen away, the bones of the breast and 
 ribs were gone and the only parts of the skeleton which re 
 mained were the skull and portions of the cheek bones, the 
 vertebrae of the neck, the spine and the largest bone of the 
 arms. All else of the upper part of the body had returned to 
 the dust whence it was taken, and in a few years more every 
 trace of the body will disappear, until the trump of the resurrec 
 tion shall unite the scattered particles. 
 
 Mors ultima linea rerum est. HORACE. 
 
 1 James Madison died in the year 1836, and was exhumed twenty-one 
 years after burial. 
 
THE RISING GLORY OF AMERICA 
 
 [Poem composed and recited by the poet at his graduation, Class of 1771.] 
 
 Venicnt annis 
 
 Sacula ftris, quibus oceanus 
 Vincula rcrum Iaxet y et ingens 
 Pateat tcllus, Typhisquc novas 
 Detegat orbes , ntc Jit terris 
 Ultima Tbule. 
 
 SINICA, MED. Act. III. T. 375. 
 
 ARGUMENT. The subject proposed The discovery of America by 
 Columbus A philosophical enquiry into the origin of the savages of 
 America The first planters from Europe Causes of their migration to 
 America The difficulties they encountered from the jealousy of the na 
 tives Agriculture descanted on Commerce and navigation Science 
 Future prospects of British usurpation, tyranny, and devastation on this 
 side of the Atlantic The more comfortable one of Independence, Lib 
 erty, and Peace Conclusion. 
 
 Acasto 
 
 Now shall the adventurous Muse attempt a theme 
 More new, more noble, and more flush of fame 
 Than all that went before 
 Now through the veil of ancient days renew 
 The period fam d when first Columbus touch d 
 These shores so long unknown through various toils, 
 Famine, and death, the hero forc d his way, 
 Thro oceans pregnant with perpetual storms, 
 And climates hostile to adventurous man. 
 But why, to prompt your tears, should we resume 
 The tale of Cortez, furious chief ordain d 
 With Indian blood to dye the sands and choak, 
 Fam d Mexico, thy streams with dead ? or why 
 Once more revive the tale so oft rehears d 
 Of Atabilipa, by thirst of gold, 
 (All conquering motive in the human breast) 
 Depriv d of life, which not Peru s rich ore 
 Nor Mexico s vast mines could then redeem ? 
 Better these northern realms demand our song, 
 Design d by nature for the rural reign, 
 
 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 For agriculture s toil. No blood we shed 
 For metals buried in a rocky waste. 
 Curs d be that ore, which brutal makes our race, 
 And prompts mankind to shed a brother s blood ! 
 
 Eugenia 
 
 But whence arose 
 
 That vagrant race who love the shady vale, 
 And choose the forest for their dark abode ? 
 For long has this perplext the sages skill 
 To investigate. Tradition lends no aid 
 To unveil this secret to the mortal eye 
 When first these various nations, north and south, 
 Possest these shores, or from what countries came? 
 Whether they sprang from some primeval head 
 In their own lands, like Adam in the east, 
 Yet this the sacred oracles deny, 
 And reason, too, reclaims against the thought : 
 For when the general deluge drown d the world 
 Where could their tribes have found security, 
 Where find their fate, but in the ghastly deep ? 
 Unless, as others dream, some chosen few 
 High on the Andes scap d the general death, 
 High on the Andes, wrapped in endless snow, 
 Where winter in his wildest fury reigns, 
 And subtile aether scarce our life maintains. 
 But here philosophers oppose the scheme : 
 This earth, say they, nor hills nor mountains knew 
 Ere yet the universal flood prevail d ; 
 But when the mighty waters rose aloft, 
 Rous d by the winds, they shook their solid base, 
 And, in convulsions, tore the delug d world, 
 Till by the winds assuag d again they fell, 
 And all their ragged bed expos d to view. 
 Perhaps, far wandering toward the northern pole, 
 The streights of Zembla, and the frozen zone, 
 And where the eastern Greenland almost joins 
 America s north point, the hardy tribes 
 Of banish d Jews, Siberians, Tartars wild 
 Came over icy mountains, or on floats 
 First reach d these coasts, hid from the world beside. - 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 And yet another argument more strange, 
 Reserv d for men of deeper thought, and late, 
 Presents itself to view : In Peleg s 1 days, 
 (So says the Hebrew seer s unerring pen) 
 This mighty mass of earth, this solid globe 
 Was cleft in twain, " divided " east and west, 
 While straight between, the deep Atlantic roll d. 
 And traces indisputable remain 
 Of this primeval land, now sunk and lost. 
 The islands rising in our eastern main 
 Are but small fragments of this continent, 
 Whose two extremities were New Foundland 
 And St. Helena. One far in the north, 
 Where shivering seamen view with strange surprise 
 The guiding pole-star glittering o er their heads ; 
 The other near the southern tropic rears 
 Its head above the waves Bermuda s isles, 
 Cape Verd, Canary, Britain and the Azores, 
 With fam d Hibernia, are but broken parts 
 Of some prodigious waste, which once sustain d 
 Nations and tribes, of vanish d memory, 
 Forests and towns, and beasts of every class, 
 Where navies now explore their briny way. 
 
 Leander 
 
 Your sophistry, Eugenio, makes me smile : 
 The roving mind of man delights to dwell 
 On hidden things, merely because they re hid : 
 He thinks his knowledge far beyond all limit, 
 And boldly fathoms Nature s darkest haunts 
 But for uncertainties, your broken isles, 
 Your northern Tartars, and your wandering Jews, 
 (The flimsy cobwebs of a sophist s brains) 
 Hear what the voice of history proclaims 
 The Carthagenians, ere the Roman yoke 
 Broke their proud spirits, and enslav d them too, 
 For navigation were renown d as much 
 As haughty Tyre with all her hundred fleets, 
 Full many a league their vent rous seamen sail d 
 
 1 Gen. x. 1. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Thro* streight Gibralter, down the western shore 
 
 Of Africa, to the Canary isles : 
 
 By them call d Fortunate ; so Flaccus * sings, 
 
 Because eternal spring there clothes the fields 
 
 And fruits delicious bloom throughout the year. 
 
 From voyaging here, this inference I draw, 
 
 Perhaps some barque with all her numerous crew 
 
 Falling to leeward of her destin d port, 
 
 Caught by the eastern Trade, was hurried on 
 
 Before the unceasing blast to Indian isles, 
 
 Brazil, La Plata, or the coasts more south 
 
 There stranded, and unable to return, 
 
 Forever from their native skies estrang d 
 
 Doubtless they made these virgin climes their own, 
 
 And in the course of long revolving years 
 
 A numerous progeny from these arose, 
 
 And spread throughout the coasts those whom we call 
 
 Brazilians, Mexicans, Peruvians rich, 
 
 The tribes of Chili, Patagon and those 
 
 Who till the shores of Amazon s long stream, 
 
 When first the power of Europe here attained 
 
 Vast empires, kingdoms, cities, palaces, 
 
 And polish d nations stock d the fertile land. 
 
 Who has not heard of Cuzco, Lima and 
 
 The town of Mexico huge cities form d 
 
 From Europe s architecture ; ere the arms 
 
 Of haughty Spain disturbed the peaceful soil. 
 
 But here amid this northern dark domain 
 
 No towns were seen to rise. No arts were here ; 
 
 The tribes unskill d to raise the lofty mast, 
 
 Or force the daring prow thro adverse waves, 
 
 Gaz d on the pregnant soil, and crav d alone 
 
 Life from the unaided genius of the ground, 
 
 This indicates they were a different race ; 
 
 From whom descended, t is not ours to say 
 
 That power, no doubt, who furnish d trees and plants, 
 
 And animals to this vast continent, 
 
 Spoke into being man among the rest, 
 
 But what a change is here ! what arts arise ! 
 
 1 Hor. Epod. 16. 
 
 [240} 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 What towns and capitals ! how commerce waves 
 Her gaudy flags, where silence reign d before ! 
 
 Acasto 
 
 Speak, my Eugenio, for I ve heard you tell, 
 The dismal story, and the cause that brought 
 The first adventurers to these western shores ; 
 The glorious cause that urg d our fathers first 
 To visit climes unknown, and wilder woods 
 Than e er Tartarian or Norwegian saw, 
 And with fair culture to adorn a soil 
 That never felt the industrious swain before. 
 
 Eugenio 
 
 All this long story to rehearse, would tire, 
 Besides, the sun toward the west retreats, 
 Nor can the noblest theme retard his speed, 
 Nor loftiest verse not that which sang the fall 
 Of Troy divine, and fierce Achilles ire. 
 Yet hear a part : by persecution wrong d, 
 And sacerdotal rage, our fathers came 
 From Europe s hostile shores, to these abodes, 
 Here to enjoy a liberty in faith, 
 Secure from tyranny and base controul. 
 For this they left their country and their friends, 
 And dar d the Atlantic wave in search of peace ; 
 And found new shores, and sylvan settlements, 
 And men, alike unknowing and unknown. 
 Hence, by the care of each adventurous chief 
 New governments (their wealth unenvied yet) 
 Were form d on liberty and virtue s plan. 
 These searching out uncultivated tracts 
 Conceiv d new plans of towns, and capitals, 
 And spacious provinces. Why should I name 
 Thee, Penn, the Solon of our western lands 
 Sagacious legislator, whom the world 
 Admires, long dead : an infant colony, 
 Nurs d by thy care, now rises o er the rest 
 Like that tall pyramid in Egypt s waste 
 O er all the neighbouring piles, they also great. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Why should I name those heroes so well known, 
 
 Who peopled all the rest from Canada 
 
 To Georgia s farthest coast, West Florida, 
 
 Or Apalachian mountains ? Yet what streams 
 
 Of blood were shed ! what Indian hosts were slain, 
 
 Before the days of peace were quite restored ! 
 
 Leander 
 
 Yes, while they overturn d the rugged soil 
 And swept the forests from the shaded plain 
 Midst dangers, foes, and death, fierce Indian tribes 
 With vengeful malice arm d, and black design, 
 Oft murdered, or dispers d, these colonies 
 Encourag d, too, by Gallia s hostile sons, 
 A warlike race, who late their arms display d 
 At Quebec, Montreal, and farthest coasts 
 Of Labrador, or Cape Breton, where now 
 The British standard awes the subject host. 
 Here, those brave chiefs, who, lavish of their blood, 
 Fought in Britannia s cause, in battle fell ! 
 What heart but mourns the untimely fate of Wolfe 
 Who, dying, conquer d ! or what breast but beats 
 To share a fate like his, and die like him ! 
 
 Acasto 
 
 But why alone commemorate the dead, 
 
 And pass those glorious heroes by, who yet 
 
 Breathe the same air, and see the light with us ? 
 
 The dead, Leander, are but empty names, 
 
 And they who fall to-day the same to us, 
 
 As they who fell ten centuries ago ! 
 
 Lost are they all, that shin d on earth before ; 
 
 Rome s boldest champions in the dust are laid, 
 
 Ajax and great Achilles are no more, 
 
 And Philip s warlike son, an empty shade ! 
 
 A Washington among our sons of fame 
 
 We boast conspicuous as the morning star 
 
 Among the inferior lights 
 
 To distant wilds Virginia sent him forth 
 
 With her brave sons he gallantly oppos d 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 The bold invaders of his country s rights. 
 Where wild Ohio pours the mazy flood, 
 And mighty meadows skirt his subject streams. 
 But now, delighting in his elm tree s shade, 
 Where deep Potowmac laves the enchanting shore, 
 He prunes the tender vine, or bids the soil 
 Luxuriant harvests to the sun display. 
 Behold a different scene not thus employed 
 Were Cortez, and Pizarro, pride of Spain, 
 Whom blood and murder only satisfy d, 
 And all to glut their avarice and ambition ! 
 
 Eugenia 
 
 Such is the curse, Acasto, where the soul 
 
 Humane is wanting but we boast no feats 
 
 Of cruelty like Europe s murdering breed 
 
 Our milder epithet is merciful, 
 
 And each American, true hearted, learns 
 
 To conquer, and to spare ; for coward souls 
 
 Alone seek vengeance on a vanquished foe. 
 
 Gold, fatal gold, was the alluring bait, 
 
 To Spain s rapacious tribes hence rose the wars 
 
 From Chili to the Caribbean Sea, 
 
 And Montezuma s Mexican domains : 
 
 More blest are we, with whose unenvied soil 
 
 Nature decreed no mingling gold to shine, 
 
 No flaming diamond, precious emerald, 
 
 No blushing sapphire, ruby, chrysolite, 
 
 Or jasper red more noble riches flow 
 
 From agriculture, and the industrious swain, 
 
 Who tills the fertile vale, or mountain s brow, 
 
 Content to lead a safe, a humble life, 
 
 Among his native hills, romantic shades 
 
 Such as the muse of Greece of old did feign, 
 
 Allur d the Olympian gods from chrystal skies, 
 
 Envying such lovely scenes to mortal man. 
 
 Leander 
 
 Long has the rural life been justly fam d, 
 And bards of old their pleasing pictures drew 
 
 [w] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Of flowery meads, and groves, and gliding streams ; 
 
 Hence, old Arcadia wood-nymphs, satyrs, fauns, 
 
 And hence Elysium, fancied heaven below ! 
 
 Fair agriculture, not unworthy kings, 
 
 Once exercis d the royal hand, or those 
 
 Whose virtue rais d them to the rank of gods ! 
 
 See, old Laertes 1 in his shepherd weeds 
 
 Far from his pompous throne and court august, 
 
 Digging the grateful soil, where round him rise 
 
 Sons of the earth, the tall aspiring oaks, 
 
 Or orchards, boasting of more fertile boughs, 
 
 Laden with apples red, sweet scented peach/ 
 
 Pear, cherry, apricot, or spongy plumb ; 
 
 While through the glebe the industrious oxen draw 
 
 The earth-inverting plough, Those Romans too, 
 
 Fabricius and Camillus, lov d a life 
 
 Of neat simplicity and rustic bliss, 
 
 And from the noisy Forum hastening far, 
 
 From busy camps, and sycophants, and crowns, 
 
 Midst woods and fields spent the remains of life, 
 
 Where full enjoyment still awaits the wise. 
 
 How grateful, to behold the harvests rise, 
 
 And mighty crops adorn the extended plains ! 
 
 Fair plenty smiles throughout, while lowing herds 
 
 Stalk o er the shrubby hill or grassy mead, 
 
 Or at some shallow river slake their thirst. 
 
 The mclosure, now, succeeds the shepherd s care, 
 
 Yet milk-white flocks adorn the well stock d farm, 
 
 And court the attention of the industrious swain 
 
 Their fleece rewards him well ; and when the winds 
 
 Blow with a keener blast, and from the north 
 
 Pour mingled tempests through a sunless sky 
 
 (Ice, sleet, and rattling hail) secure he sits 
 
 Warm in his cottage, fearless of the storm, 
 
 Enjoying now the toils of milder moons, 
 
 Yet hoping for the spring. Such are the joys, 
 
 And such the toils of those whom heaven hath bless d 
 
 With souls enamour d of a country life. 
 
 1 Horn. Odyss. lib. 14. 
 
 [244} 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 Acasto 
 
 Such are the visions of the rustic reign 
 
 But this alone, the fountain of support, 
 
 Would scarce employ the varying mind of man ; 
 
 Each seeks employ, and each a different way : 
 
 Strip Commerce of her sail, and men once more 
 
 Would be converted into savages 
 
 No nation e er grew social and refin d 
 
 Till Commerce first had wing d the adventurous prow, 
 
 Or sent the slow-pac d caravan, afar, 
 
 To waft their produce to some other clime, 
 
 And bring the wish d exchange thus came, of old, 
 
 Golconda s golden ore, and thus the wealth 
 
 Of Ophir, to the wisest of mankind. 
 
 Eugenia 
 
 Great is the praise of Commerce, and the men 
 
 Deserve our praise, who spread the undaunted sail, 
 
 And traverse every sea their dangers great, 
 
 Death still to combat in the unfeeling gale, 
 
 And every billow but a gaping grave ; 
 
 There, skies and waters, wearying on the eye, 
 
 For weeks and months no other prospect yield 
 
 But barren wastes, unfathom d depths, where not 
 
 The blissful haunt of human form is seen 
 
 To cheer the unsocial horrors of the way 
 
 Yet all these bold designs to science owe 
 
 Their rise and glory Hail, fair Science ! thou, 
 
 Transplanted from the eastern skies, dost bloom 
 
 In these blest regions Greece and Rome no more 
 
 Detain the Muses on Cithaeron s brow, 
 
 Or old Olympus, crown d with waving woods, 
 
 Or Haemus top, where once was heard the harp, 
 
 Sweet Orpheus harp, that gain d his cause below, 
 
 And pierc d the heart of Orcus and his bride ; 
 
 That hush d to silence by its voice divine 
 
 Thy melancholy waters, and the gales, 
 
 O Hebrus ! that o er thy sad surface blow. 
 
 No more the maids round Alpheus waters stray, 
 
 Where he with Arethusa s stream doth mix, 
 
 [**>] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Or where swift Tiber disembogues his waves 
 
 Into the Italian sea, so long unsung; 
 
 Hither they wing their way, the last, the best 
 
 Of countries, where the arts shall rise and grow, 
 
 And arms shall have their day even now we boast 
 
 A Franklin, prince of all philosophy, 
 
 A genius piercing as the electric fire, 
 
 Bright as the lightning s flash, explain d so well 
 
 By him the rival of Britannia s sage. 1 
 
 This is the land of every joyous sound 
 
 Of liberty and life, sweet liberty ! 
 
 Without whose aid the noblest genius fails, 
 
 And science irretrievably must die. 
 
 Leander 
 
 But come, Eugenio, since we know the past 
 
 What hinders to pervade with searching eye 
 
 The mystic scenes of dark futurity ! 
 
 Say, shall we ask what empires yet must rise, 
 
 What kingdoms, powers and states, where now are seen 
 
 Mere dreary wastes and awful solitude, 
 
 Where Melancholy sits, with eye forlorn, 
 
 And time anticipates, when we shall spread 
 
 Dominion from the north, and south, and west, 
 
 Far from the Atlantic to Pacific shores, 
 
 And shackle half the convex of the main ! 
 
 A glorious theme ! but how shall mortals dare 
 
 To pierce the dark events of future years, 
 
 And scenes unravel, only known to fate ? 
 
 Acasto 
 
 This might we do, if warm d by that bright coal 
 Snatch d from the altar of cherubic fire, 
 Which touch d Isaiah s lips or if the spirit 
 Of Jeremy and Amos, prophets old, 
 Might swell the heaving breast I see, I see 
 Freedom s establish d reign ; cities, and men, 
 Numerous as sands upon the ocean shore, 
 And empires rising where the sun descends ! 
 
 1 Newton. 
 
"The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 The Ohio soon shall glide by many a town 
 Of note, and where the Mississippi stream, 
 By forest shaded, now runs weeping on, 
 Nations shall grow, and states, not less in fame 
 Than Greece and Rome of old ! we too shall boast 
 Our Scipios, Solons, Catos, sages, chiefs, 
 That in the womb of time yet dormant lie, 
 Waiting the joyous hour of life and light. 
 O snatch me hence, ye muses, to those days 
 When through the veil of dark antiquity 
 Our sons shall hear of us as things remote, 
 That blossom d in the morn of days Alas ! 
 How could I weep that we were born so soon, 
 Just in the dawning of these mighty times, 
 Whose scenes are panting for eternity ! 
 Dissensions that shall swell the trump of fame, 
 And ruin brooding o er all monarchy ! 
 
 Eugenia 
 
 Nor shall these angry tumults here subside 
 
 Nor murders 1 cease, through all these provinces, 
 
 Till foreign crowns have vanish d from our view 
 
 And dazzle here no more no more presume 
 
 To awe the spirit of fair Liberty 
 
 Vengeance shall cut the thread and Britain, sure, 
 
 Will curse her fatal obstinacy for it ! 
 
 Bent on the ruin of this injur d country, 
 
 She will not listen to our humble prayers, 
 
 Though offer* d with submission : 
 
 Like vagabonds, and objects of destruction, 
 
 Like those whom all mankind are sworn to hate, 
 
 She casts us off from her protection, 
 
 And will invite the nations round about, 
 
 Russians and Germans, slaves and savages, 
 
 To come and have a share in our perdition 
 
 O cruel race, O unrelenting Britain, 
 
 Who bloody beasts will hire to cut our throats, 
 
 Who war will wage with prattling innocence, 
 
 1 The massacre at Boston, March 5, 1770, is here more particularly 
 glanced at. 
 
 [Wl 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 And basely murder unoffending women ! 
 Will stab their prisoners when they cry for quarter, 
 Will burn our towns, and from his lodging turn 
 The poor inhabitant to sleep in tempests ! 
 These will be wrongs, indeed, and all sufficient 
 To kindle up our souls to deeds of horror, 
 And give to every arm the nerves of Samson 
 These are the men that fill the world with ruin, 
 And every region mourns their greedy sway 
 Nor only for ambition. 
 
 But what are this world s goods, that they for them 
 Should exercise perpetual butchery ? 
 What are these mighty riches we possess, 
 That they should send so far to plunder them ? 
 Already have we felt their potent arm 
 And ever since that inauspicious day, 
 When first Sir Francis Bernard 
 His cannons planted at the council door, 
 And made the assembly room a home for strumpets, 
 And soldiers rank and file e er since that day 
 This wretched land, that drinks its children s gore, 
 Has been a scene of tumult and confusion ! 
 Are there not evils in the world enough ? 
 Are we so happy that they envy us ? 
 Have we not toil d to satisfy their harpies, 
 King s deputies, that are insatiable; 
 Whose practice is to incense the royal mind 
 And make us despicable in his view ? 
 Have we not all the evils to contend with 
 That, in this life, mankind are subject to, 
 Pain, sickness, poverty and natural death 
 But into every wound that nature gave 
 They will a dagger plunge, and make them mortal ! 
 
 Leander 
 
 Enough, enough such dismal scenes you paint, 
 I almost shudder at the recollection 
 What, are they dogs that they would mangle us ? 
 Are these the men that come with base design 
 To rob the hive, and kill the industrious bee ! 
 
 [248} 
 
The Poet of the Revolution 
 
 To brighter skies I turn my ravish d view, 
 And fairer prospects from the future draw 
 Here independent power shall hold her sway, 
 And public virtue warm the patriot breast : 
 No traces shall remain of tyranny, 
 And laws, a pattern to the world beside, 
 Be here enacted first. 
 
 Acasto 
 
 And when a train of rolling years are past, 
 (So sung the exiPd seer in Patmos isle) 
 A new Jerusalem, sent down from heaven, 
 Shall grace our happy earth perhaps this land, 
 Whose ample breast shall then receive, tho late, 
 Myriads of saints, with their immortal king, 
 To live and reign on earth a thousand years, 
 Thence called Millennium. Paradise anew 
 Shall flourish, by no second Adam lost. 
 No dangerous tree with deadly fruit shall grow, 
 No tempting serpent to allure the soul 
 From native innocence. A Canaan here, 
 Another Canaan shall excel the old, 
 And from a fairer Pisgah s top be seen. 
 No thistle here, nor thorn nor briar shall spring, 
 Earth s curse before : the lion and the lamb, 
 In mutual friendship link d, shall browse the shrub, 
 And timorous deer with softened tygers stray 
 O er mead, or lofty hill, or grassy plain : 
 Another Jordan s stream shall glide along, 
 And Siloah s brook in circling eddies flow : 
 Groves shall adorn their verdant banks, on which 
 The happy people, free from toils and death, 
 Shall find secure repose. No fierce disease, 
 No fevers, slow consumption, ghastly plague, 
 (Fate s ancient ministers) again proclaim 
 Perpetual war with man : fair fruits shall bloom, 
 Fair to the eye, and grateful to the taste ; 
 Nature s loud storms be hush d, and seas no more 
 Rage hostile to mankind and, worse than all, 
 The fiercer passions of the human breast 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Shall kindle up to deeds of death no more, 
 But all subside in universal peace 
 
 Such days the world, 
 
 And such, America, thou first shalt have, 
 When ages, yet to come, have run their round, 
 And future years of bliss alone remain. 
 1771. 
 
Appendix 
 
Appendix 
 
 [See page 6] 
 
 N a exagere infiniment le nombre des huguenots qui 
 sortirent du royaume a cette occasion, et cela devoit 
 etre ainsi. Comme les interesses sont les seuls qui 
 parlent et qui client, ils affirment tout ce qui leur 
 plait. Un ministre qui voyoit son troupeau disperse publioit 
 qu il avoit passe chez 1 etranger. Un chef de manufacture 
 qui avoit perdu deux ouvriers faisoit son calcul comme si tous 
 les fabricans du royaume avoient fait la meme perte que lui. 
 Dix ouvriers sortis d une ville ou ils avoient leurs connois- 
 sances et leurs amis faisoient croire, par le bruit de leur fuite, 
 que la ville alloit manquer de bras pour tous les ateliers. Ce 
 qu il y a de surprenant, c est que plusieurs maitres des re- 
 quetes, dans les instructions qu ils m adresserent sur leurs 
 generalites, adopterent ces bruits populaires, et annoncerent 
 par la combien ils etoient peu instruits de ce qui devoit les 
 occuper ; aussi leur rapport se trouva-t-il contredit par d autres, 
 et demontre faux par la verification faite en plusieurs endroits. 
 Quand le nombre des huguenots qui sortirent de France a 
 cette epoque monteroit, suivant le calcul le plus exagere, a 
 soixante-sept mille sept cent trente-deux personnes, il ne 
 devoit pas se trouver parmi ce nombre, qui comprenoit tous 
 les ages et tous les sexes, assez d hommes utiles pour laisser 
 un grand vide dans les campagnes et dans les ateliers, et 
 influer sur le royaume entier. II est certain d ailleurs que 
 ce vide ne dut jamais etre plus sensible qu au moment ou 
 il se fit. On ne s en aper$ut pas alors, et Ton s en plaint 
 aujourd hui ! II faut done en chercher une autre cause : elle 
 existe en effet, et, si on veut le savoir, c est la guerre. Quant 
 a la retraite des huguenots, elle couta moins d hommes utiles a 
 PEtat, que ne lui en enlevoit une seule annee de guerre 
 civile." i 
 
 1 Vie du Due de Bourgogne, tome ii. p. 108. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 [See page <5] 
 
 "S il falloit ecouter certains declamateurs, on croirait que 
 les richesses et la prosperite avoient fui la France avec les pro- 
 testans refugies ; et cependant, je le demande, le commerce et 
 rindustrie ont-ils cesse de prendre des accroissemens ? Dans 
 le cours du dix-huitieme siecle, n a-t-on pas vu se multiplier 
 de toutes parts les etoffes precieuses, les meubles superbes, les 
 tableaux des grands maitres, les maisons richement decores ? 
 
 " A Pepoque de la revocation, notre commerce, a peine sorti 
 des mains de Colbert, son createur, etoit encore dans 1 enfance. 
 Que pouvrons-nous apprendre a nos rivaux, de ce qui nous 
 avions tout appris ? L Angleterre, la Hollande, 1 Italie, nous 
 avoit devances dans la carriere ; les manufactures de Louviers 
 et de Sedan ont eu leurs modeles chez nos voisins. Le 
 nom seul d un tres grand nombre de nos fabrications rapelle 
 Londres, Florence, Naples, Turin, et decele ainsi une ori- 
 gine etrangere." * 
 
 [See page 7] 
 
 u Les arrets et les edits se succedoient rapidement, on pen- 
 soit alors que les edits precedens de tolerance et de pacification 
 n etoient pas des traites d alliance, mais des ordonnances faites 
 par les rois pour Putilite publique, et sujets a revocation lorsque 
 le bien de 1 Etat le demande. Tel etoit le sentiment du 
 docteur Arnauld, et, ce qui est plus remarquable, de Grotius 
 lui-meme. Le gouvernement francais paroissait suivre le meme 
 systeme politique que les gouvernements protestans avoient mis 
 depuis longtemps a execution centre leurs sujets catholiques ; 
 et meme, en comparent leur code penal avec celui de la France, 
 il seroit facile de prouver qu il se montra plus indulgent et plus 
 tolerant." 2 
 
 [See page 47-] 
 
 " The Blue Bells " was at the present Washington Heights, 
 on the east side of the old Kingsbridge road, and opposite the 
 Bennett place, formerly owned by Mr. Henry O Reilly. We 
 are told by Mr. Blasie Ryer of that vicinity that it was a long, 
 low-roofed frame house, and was demolished many years ago. 
 
 1 Conferences par M. I. Frayssinous, liv. iii. p. 1*7. 
 
 2 Histoire de Bossuet, tome iii. p. 87. 
 
Appendix 
 
 This tavern was kept during the Revolution by one Wilson, an 
 Englishman and a Tory. It was a favorite rendezvous of Brit 
 ish officers, who there once concocted a night job for the cap 
 ture of Washington ; discovered, however, in time to save him, 
 by a Scotch servant girl of the house, by the name of Douglas. 
 She let out the secret to a good patriot woman, Mrs. Bauer, 
 living across the street, our informant s grandmother, who 
 contrived to send word to the General by her little Christine, 
 to keep out of the way that night." Magazine of American 
 History, vol. vi. I. 
 
 [See page 32] 
 
 Etienne DeLancey 1 was descended from Guy DeLancey 
 Viscount de Loval and de Nourion. At the time of the 
 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes he and his widowed 
 mother, being stanch Protestants, were obliged to seek flight 
 or concealment for safety. Etienne, then at the age of 
 twenty-three, chose the former. Before parting, his mother 
 gave him the family jewels, they being the most available 
 property for him, and he succeeded in escaping with them to 
 Holland, and from there went to England, where he em 
 barked for America, after obtaining letters of denization. By 
 the sale of his jewels he obtained a considerable sum that 
 enabled him to enter a profitable commercial business. His 
 rank and high personal character acquired for him a high 
 position amongst the French refugees in New York, and he 
 was one of the first anciens of the French Church. He 
 married a daughter of Stephen Van Cortlandt and founded 
 a family of social and political distinction. His son James 
 became Chief Justice and Lieut. Governor of the province. 
 This family is now represented by Edward Floyd Delancey, 
 Esq., of New York, who is the head of this branch, all the 
 other branches having become extinct in the male line. 
 Baird s Huguenot Emigration. 
 
 [See page <5j] 
 
 Jacques Desbrosses was a Huguenot refugee from Mon- 
 champ, France, and arrived in the city of New York in 1701. 
 He married Helene Gaudineau in 1703. She was the 
 
 1 Like many other names this has changed from its original form. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 daughter of a Huguenot physician of Sigournais, France, who 
 was very active during Leisler s time; and the latter threw 
 him into prison for refusing to surrender his commission. 
 He was an ancien of the French Church and obtained the 
 freedom of the city in 1702, He was afterwards a vestry 
 man of Trinity Church. 
 
 Jacques and Helene had six children all of whom were 
 baptized in the French Church. Their eldest son, likewise 
 Jacques, was an ancien of that congregation, and the youngest, 
 Elie, was a vestryman and warden of Trinity Church, New 
 York City. In his will he left to the corporation of the latter 
 church a fund for the use and benefit of such French clergy 
 as should perform divine service in the French language, but 
 according to the liturgy of the Church of England. One of 
 the streets in New York is named after this family. BaircTs 
 Huguenot Emigration. 
 
 [See page 63} 
 
 John Fanning Watson, the antiquary and annalist, was born 
 at Batsto, Burlington County, New Jersey, in 1780, and died 
 in Germantown, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1860. He had 
 a bookstore in Philadelphia for many years, and employed his 
 leisure in gathering items of interest in regard to the early 
 history of Philadelphia ; which he published under the title of 
 u Annals of Philadelphia," 8vo, 1830; and a second edition 
 in two volumes in 1844. The success of this work led him 
 to collect and publish some incidents of early and revolution 
 ary history pertaining to New York and Pennsylvania under 
 the title of " Historic Tales of the Olden Times in Penn 
 sylvania, 1833." I n ^46 he published "Annals of New 
 York City and State," and in 1856 a " History of the United 
 States." American Cyclopaedia. 
 
 \See page 89] 
 
 The family of Morin was from Niort, one of the former 
 Huguenot strongholds in France. Upon escaping from the 
 latter country in the year 1685, the Morins, along with the 
 Quintards, with whom they were related, sought refuge in 
 Bristol, England, where Sir Jonathan Trelawney procured for 
 
Appendix 
 
 the use of the refugees the beautiful Church of St. Marks, or 
 the Gaunt Chapel. 
 
 The Morins and the Quintards belonged to the Narragan- 
 sett Colony, but finally came to New York, where Pierre 
 Morin married, in the year 1700, Esther, daughter of Elie 
 Charron. By her he had nine children, three boys and six 
 girls, two of the latter being twins. 
 
 The Right Rev. Ch. T. Quintard, D.D., LL.D., of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church, Bishop of the diocese of Ten 
 nessee, is a descendant in the fifth generation of this family. 
 The Quintards finally moved to Stamford, Conn., where their 
 descendants yet live. 
 
 [See page 95] 
 
 On May 26, 1775, the British warship " Asia," of sixty-four 
 guns, arrived with orders to take on board the Royal Irish 
 Regiment, which was quartered at the Upper Barracks in the 
 Park. The departure of this detachment almost led to blood 
 shed. The committee had issued an order permitting the 
 troops to leave unhindered, with such arms and accoutrements 
 as they carried on their persons. 
 
 The people gathered in the streets to see the departure of 
 the thoroughly unpopular redcoats, and were astonished to see, 
 directly behind the first lines, a number of carts containing 
 stacks of arms. Among those who noticed this unexpected 
 feature of the procession was Marinus Willett, a prominent 
 " Son of Liberty " and Captain in the First Regiment, u New 
 York Line." He immediately gave the alarm and began col 
 lecting a force to prevent the troops from carrying off their 
 spare arms. 
 
 u The way I took," to quote his own words (" New York 
 in the Revolution," Mercantile Library Collection), " brought 
 me to the front of the troops, as they were marching, before 
 any of the other persons who set out on the same business. 
 On my arrival in their front, which was at the corner of 
 Beaver Street, in Broad Street, I stopped the horse that was 
 drawing the front cartload of arms. This, of course, occasioned 
 a halt of the troops, and brought the Major of the regiment, 
 who was the commanding officer, in front to inquire into the 
 cause of the halt. I had the horse by the head, and on the 
 appearance of the Major informed him that the halt was made 
 
 [ 257 ] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 to prevent the spare arms from being carried off, as the act of 
 the committee did not authorize the troops taking any other 
 arms than such as they carried on their backs. 
 
 " While I was making this explanation to the Major, David 
 Matthews, Esq., came up and accosted me in the following 
 words : I am surprised, Mr. Willet, that you will hazard 
 the peace and endanger the lives of our citizens when you 
 know that the committee has directed that the troops shall be 
 permitted to depart unmolested. As Mr. Matthews was a 
 Tory and zealous supporter of the measures of the British 
 Government, his presence or opinion could have , no influence 
 with me, and I very unhesitatingly assured him . . . that, 
 considering the bloody business which had taken place among 
 our brethren in Massachusetts, whom we were bound by ties 
 of honor as well as interest to support, I deemed it my duty 
 to prevent these arms from being used against them, and con 
 ceived that it would be much more reputable for us to em 
 ploy them in the defence of our injured country. 
 
 " While this question was agitating with the Major and the 
 Mayor, [Matthews,] Mr. Gouverneur Morris made his appear 
 ance, and, to my great astonishment, joined the Mayor in opin 
 ion. Mr. Morris s situation was very different from that of the 
 Mayor s. He was a Whig of very respectable connections 
 and young, of brilliant talents. To be opposed by Mr. Mor 
 ris staggered me And I doubt whether all my zeal and en 
 thusiasm would have supported me had it not been for the 
 arrival at that critical moment of John Morin Scott, who was 
 an influential member of the committee, and whose reputation 
 for talents was as great as any in the city. He came up just 
 as I was repeating to Mr. Morris the reasons of my conduct, 
 and exclaimed in a loud voice: You are right, Willett ; the 
 committee has not given them permission to carry off any 
 spare arms. By this time the throng of people around us had 
 greatly increased and were pressing in on every side. Mr. 
 Scott s opinion was scarcely proclaimed when I turned the 
 front cart to the right and directed the cartman to drive up 
 Beaver Street ; the other carts, which were loaded with arms, 
 were made to follow." 
 
 At the suggestion of Scott, Willett jumped in one of the carts 
 and announced to the soldiers that if they were ready to aid in 
 
Appendix 
 
 the bloody business the patriots were ready to meet them u in 
 the sanguine field," but if any of them felt a repugnance 
 to the work of shedding their countrymen s blood they would 
 be protected. One redcoat came forward and was received 
 with great cheers. 
 
 The carts, accompanied by the continual huzzas of the 
 people, were thereupon turned back, and, making their way 
 through Beaver Street and upon the Broad Way, deposited 
 their chests in a ball alley at the corner of John Street. 
 These arms were afterward used by the first troops raised in 
 New York by the Committee. 
 
 The forbearance of the British Major on this occasion has 
 always been a cause of great surprise. It was perhaps due to 
 his sympathy with the American cause, as shortly after he 
 resigned his commission. 
 
 No doubt the advice of the sage and patriotic Morris in this 
 instance was eminently proper, but as sometimes happens the 
 rash and audacious deed of Willett bore good fruit and ren 
 dered his name and his service immortal. 
 
 During the Revolutionary War, Willett became one of the 
 most efficient officers in the American army. Subsequently 
 he occupied the position of Sheriff, and in 1807 was Mayor 
 of the City. Sheriff and Willett Streets were both named 
 in his honor. He died at the ripe old age of ninety, and was 
 buried in a coffin made of pieces of wood collected by himself 
 from various Revolutionary battlefields. ALBERT ULMANN, 
 in the New York Times Saturday Review. 
 
 [See page 705] 
 
 As many seem to identify privateering with piracy, a 
 word on the subject may not be inopportune. 
 
 According to the law of nations, when one power has de 
 clared war against another, all the subjects of the one are 
 enemies to the subjects of the other, and consequently the 
 subjects of one power may not properly complain of hostile 
 acts done by those of the adverse power, even though such 
 acts should not have been specially commanded by the power. 
 Usually, however, unsanctioned inimical acts have been 
 practically condemned by nearly all civilized nations, for, 
 although not looked upon as piracy, yet they would be irreg- 
 
 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 ular. The universal rule is that, except in case of self-defence, 
 only those regularly enrolled by their respective powers should 
 take part in warfare. To the sovereign power it belongs to 
 make war, and in doing so it may employ what means it sees 
 fit. It may limit itself to its own resources, or it may make 
 use of those of others, either by land or sea ; it may employ 
 only its public vessels, or it may avail itself of vessels belong 
 ing to private persons ; and in doing the latter, the fact of giv 
 ing them a commission forms of such forces in respect to the 
 navy what would compare with a volunteer force in respect 
 to the regular army, for in both of these cases the commissions 
 they bear make of them servants of the State. To guard 
 against the abuses incident to piracy, such sea forces are sub 
 ject to certain regulations. 
 
 Unprepared as were the colonies for warfare on land, to a 
 greater degree were they so by sea. Warfare against the French, 
 Spanish, and Indians had necessarily imparted to the colonists 
 a certain degree of experience and discipline, but never having 
 entered into contest with these foes on the sea, they had con 
 sequently no advantage whatever. Far easier was it for them 
 to raise an army, and to drill it on firm land which had been 
 their basis in every operation since their advent, than to build 
 and equip vessels, and perform evolutions on such an unstable 
 and unaccustomed element as water. Subjects also could be 
 found more ready to rise up and equip themselves to defend 
 their hearth-fires than to leave them to the mercy of their 
 enemy and go forth to meet such of them as were already 
 considered masters of the sea. 
 
 The origin of the United States navy dated only from 1775, 
 in which year Congress authorized two cruisers to be built, the 
 one carrying ten, the other fourteen guns ; soon after, fifteen 
 other vessels were authorized to be built, carrying from twenty 
 to thirty-six guns, the colonies of New England, New York, 
 Pennsylvania, and Maryland bearing the expense of their 
 construction. On December 22, 1775, Esek Hopkins and Paul 
 Jones were appointed, respectively, commander-in-chief and 
 lieutenant ; there was also appointed a corps of naval officers. 
 By October, 1776, the infant navy numbered twenty-six ves 
 sels, mounting 536 guns, and with this ineffectual armament, 
 the colonies were to meet the superior force of Great Britain, 
 
 [260] 
 
Appendix 
 
 until such time as the French fleet came to assist them in their 
 efforts. They were utterly unable to succeed in combined 
 operation against the British, as in the very few encounters 
 they had, the colonists came off conquered ; consequently the 
 sea-coast was at the mercy of the oppressors. 
 
 Seeing the necessity of enlarging their force, Congress gladly 
 granted letters of marque to any well-known patriots who 
 should be venturesome enough to undertake the work of as 
 sisting their country on the sea. Without these letters of 
 marque such vessels would have been treated, when captured, as 
 ordinary pirates. The instructions issued by Congress to all 
 privateers during the Revolution were as follows : 
 
 " I. You may by force of arms attack, subdue, and take all 
 ships and other vessels belonging to the inhabitants of Great 
 Britain, on the high sea, or between high water and low water 
 marks, except ships and vessels bringing persons who intend to 
 settle and reside in the United States; or bringing arms, ammu 
 nition or warlike stores to the said colonies, for the use of such 
 inhabitants thereof as are friends to the American Cause, which 
 you shall suffer to pass unmolested, the commander thereof per 
 mitting a peaceable search and giving satisfactory information 
 of the contents of the ladings and the destination of the 
 voyages. 
 
 " II. You may by force of arms subdue and take all ships 
 and other vessels whatsoever carrying soldiers, arms, gunpow 
 der, ammunition, provisions, or any other contraband goods 
 to any of the British armies or ships of war employed against 
 the colonies. 
 
 " III. You shall bring such ships and vessels as you shall take, 
 with their guns, tackle, apparel, furniture and lading, to some 
 convenient port or a port of the united Colonies,that proceedings 
 may thereupon be had in due form before the courts which are 
 or shall be then appointed to hear and determine causes civil 
 and maritime. 
 
 " IV. You or one of your chief officers shall bring or send 
 the master and pilot and one or more principal person or persons 
 of the company of every ship or vessel by you taken, as soon 
 after the capture as may be, to the Judge or Judges, of such 
 court as aforesaid to be examined upon oath and make an 
 swer to the interrogatories which may be propounded touching 
 
 [**/] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 the interest or property of the ship or vessel and her lading, 
 and at the same time you shall deliver or cause to be delivered 
 to the Judge or Judges all Passes, Sea Briefs, Charter-Parties, 
 Bills of Lading, Lockers, Letters and Documents, and Writ 
 ings found on Board, proving the said Papers by the Affidavit 
 of yourself, or of some other Person present at the Capture, to be 
 produced as they were received, without Fraud, Addition, Sub 
 traction, or Embezzlement. 
 
 " V. You shall keep and preserve every Ship or Vessel and 
 Cargo by you taken until they shall by Sentence of a Court 
 properly authorized be adjudged lawful Prize, not selling, wast 
 ing, or diminishing the same or breaking the Bulk thereof, 
 not Suffering any such Thing to be done. 
 
 " VI. If you or any of your Officers or Crew shall in cold 
 blood, kill or maim, or, by Torture or otherwise, Cruelly, 
 inhumanly, and contrary to common usage and the Practice 
 of civilized nations in war treat any Person or Persons sur 
 prised in the Ship or Vessel you shall take, the offender shall 
 be severely punished. 
 
 " VII. You shall by all convenient Opportunities, send to 
 Congress written accounts of the Capture you shall make, 
 with the number and names of the Captives, Copies of your 
 Journal from time to time, and Intelligence of what may occur 
 or be discovered concerning the Design of the Enemy and 
 the Destinations, motion and Operation of their Fleets and 
 armies. 
 
 " VIII. One third, at least of your whole company shall be 
 Land men. 
 
 " IX. You shall not ransom any Prisoners or Captives, but 
 shall dispose of them in such manner as the Congress, or if that 
 be not sitting in the Colony whither they shall be brought, as the 
 General Assembly, Convention or Council or Committee of 
 Safety of such Colony shall direct. 
 
 " X. You shall observe all such further instructions as Con 
 gress shall hereafter give, in the promise you shall have notice 
 thereof. 
 
 u XI. If you shall do anything contrary to these instructions 
 or to others hereafter to be given, or willingly suffer such things 
 to be done, you shall not only forfeit your commission and be 
 liable to an Action for Breach of the Condition of your Bond, 
 
 [262] 
 
Appendix 
 
 but be responsible to the Party aggrieved for Damages sus 
 tained by such malversation." 
 
 [See page /jJ] 
 
 The following letter l goes to prove that Peter Freneau did 
 not go to South Carolina till after the year 1780; it was 
 written just two weeks before the capture of the u Aurora." 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, May i3th, 1780. 
 
 SIR, - With this you will receive a Cask containing 
 14 Gallf of Wine which is due you for two Guineas that 
 you gave me on the other side you have your Account 
 I am informed that you have rec? 50 for the Horse that I 
 lost in Mf. Budinots service, this sum is so far from making 
 me any satisfaction that I am determined not to take it, the 
 Horse cost me upwards of 20 in Specie, I think it is Just 
 that I should have more than 50 Continental which at the 
 present Exchange is only J^- a very Small Compensation for 
 lying out of my property upwards of two years. I would 
 therefore beg that if you do not get more for me that you will 
 inform Mf. Budinot that I had rather Loose the horse than 
 take a mere Shaddow in pay for him. I have nothing more 
 to add only that I am 
 
 Very Respectfully 
 
 Your most obedient 
 Humble Servant 
 
 PETER FRENEAU. 
 JOHN COVENHOVEN ESQ* 
 Freehold 
 
 Monmouth County. 
 
 [SftpagtiSf] 
 
 Chief Justice Pinckney was the son of Thomas Pinckney 
 and Mary Cotesworth. In 1752 he was made Chief Justice 
 of the province. His wife, Eliza Lucas, daughter of Colonel 
 Lucas of the British army, was the first to introduce the 
 cultivation of indigo into the United States. He had two 
 sons Charles Cotesworth and Thomas Pinckney ; both brothers 
 
 1 The original letter is in the possession of Mr. Weymer Jay Mills. 
 
 possession 
 
 [263} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 practised law in Charleston, and at the breaking out of the 
 Revolution took up arms in defence of their country. Charles 
 accepted in 1796 the post of Minister to France; he was 
 afterwards appointed major-general in the army. In 1800 
 he was a candidate for the presidency. Thomas became aid 
 to General Lincoln the commander of the Southern army. 
 In 1789 he was elected Governor of South Carolina, and in 
 1792 was appointed Minister to Great Britain, and afterwards 
 was appointed to fill the same position in Spain. He was 
 appointed major-general in 1812. 
 
 {Set page 22$\ 
 
 In the preface to one of Edmund Burke s works we find 
 this allusion to Mrs. Leadbeater : 
 
 " Edmund Burke was at Ballytore school under its founder, 
 and its founder s son and heir was then among his schoolfel 
 lows and comrades. Its founder s daughter, Mary, became 
 afterward Mrs. Leadbeater, and when Burke was a great man 
 in London, Richard Shackleton having come also to be head 
 of the Ballytore school, it was his rest and happiness to Burke, 
 to take a holiday at Ballytore with its president who had been 
 his schoolfellow and to correspond with Mrs. Leadbeater." 
 
 [See page 229] 
 
 " At the age of seventeen years Henry O Rielly became the 
 assistant editor of the New York Patriot, the organ of the 
 People s Party, which elected De Witt Clinton governor of 
 the State of New York in 1824. When in 1826 Luther 
 Tucker & Co. established the Rochester Daily Advertiser/ 
 the first daily newspaper published between the Hudson River 
 and Pacific Ocean, young O Rielly, then not twenty-one 
 years of age, was chosen to be its editor. About this time he 
 married Marcia, eldest daughter of General Micah Brooks, of 
 Brooks Grove, Livingston County, a pioneer settler from 
 Brooks Vale, Connecticut. General Brooks father, a grad 
 uate of Yale, as a minister preached resistance to injustice 
 with picket guards around his church, and held such different 
 positions of trust in the New Haven colony as were compati 
 ble with his profession. He was related to Maj.-Gen. David 
 Wooster. General Brooks filled many prominent positions 
 
Appendix 
 
 and exercised a great influence in the early days of the State 
 and the Republic. In our State Legislature, and Constitutional 
 Convention, in the National Congress, as Judge for over twenty 
 years, and served several campaigns on the British frontiers 
 during the war of 1812. While in Congress he was chair 
 man of the " Committee on Internal Improvements," which 
 committee was composed of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, 
 John C. Calhoun, Wm. Henry Harrison, Richard M. John 
 ston, and others,, 
 
 "Mr. O Rielly resumed his editorial labors in 1832, and 
 became an active leader in all public enterprises. In 1833, as 
 chairman of the Executive Committee of Rochester on Canal 
 Affairs, he wrote the first memorial presented to the Legisla 
 ture and the Canal Board, in favor of rebuilding the failing 
 structures of the Erie Canal. He then proposed a judicious 
 plan for the enlargement of the Canal, which, if it had been 
 adopted, might have saved the State millions of dollars. He 
 was a zealous advocate of such enlargement, and he was chair 
 man of the first State Executive Committee appointed by the 
 first Canal Enlargement Convention in 1837. In that capac 
 ity he served many years with great efficiency. In 1838 he 
 was appointed postmaster of Rochester. At the same time his 
 never-wearied pen prepared pamphlets and newspaper essays, 
 filled with cogent arguments in favor of reform in the methods 
 of popular education. In these efforts he was ably seconded 
 by the venerable James Wadsworth, Senior, 1 of Genneseo ; and 
 their joint labors led to the legislation that fashioned the pres 
 ent common-school system of the State of New York. Mr. 
 O Rielly earnestly advocated the introduction of works on 
 agriculture into the school-district libraries of the State, and 
 his wise suggestions in his reports as Secretary of the State 
 Agricultural Society have been practically carried out in the 
 establishment of State Agricultural Colleges in every common 
 wealth in the Union. He was the originator of the State Con 
 stitutional Association which was the means of bringing about 
 the reforms in the Constitution of the State of New York in 
 1846. He was also the originator at about the same time, of 
 a project for the establishment of a private telegraph system 
 for a range of about eight thousand miles in length connecting 
 
 1 Father of General James Wadsworth. 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 all sections of the United States east of the Mississippi River. 
 For this purpose he secured the right to the use of all the tele 
 graph patents which had then been granted. This system was 
 known as the Atlantic, Lake, and Mississippi Telegraph 
 Range, the earliest lightning range in America or the world, 
 and it was carried into effect by his individual effort, without 
 governmental direction or subsidies. 
 
 " In 1853 Mr. O Rielly was engaged by the State of Iowa to 
 improve the navigation of the Des Moines River, but circum 
 stances caused a suspension of the work. A few years later 
 the railroad interest in the State of New York took an attitude 
 decidedly hostile to the great Erie Canal, a powerful commer 
 cial rival. That interest conspired to destroy its credit and to 
 make the people believe that it was the source of burdensome 
 taxation. The completion of its enlargement was opposed, 
 and a scheme was devised for controlling legislation so as to 
 deprive the people of this great property by its sale to the 
 highest bidder. In the fall of 1859 Mr. O Rielly sent forth 
 a stirring address to the people of the State on the subject. 
 They were aroused. The c Clinton League was formed, with 
 Mr. O Rielly as chairman, and, by their untiring efforts, this 
 scheme, which if carried out, would have disgraced the Com 
 monwealth, was frustrated. When the late Civil War broke 
 out he was one of the most active promoters of measures for 
 the preservation of the Union, and was secretary of the So 
 ciety for Promoting the Enlistment of Colored Troops/ He 
 originated in 1867 an organized movement for reforming and 
 cheapening the operations of the Railroad system of the United 
 States. Mr. O Rielly has deposited with the New York His 
 torical Society, of which he had been a member since 1840, 
 almost two hundred volumes, partly in manuscript and partly 
 in print, containing well-arranged documents and other papers 
 relating to the history of important public events in which he 
 has participated. These form authentic materials of inestima 
 ble value, especially to the future historian, of the early ope 
 rations of the Canal and Telegraph systems of the United 
 States." x About 1838 he prepared and published a volume of 
 five hundred pages entitled u Sketches of Rochester, with In 
 cidental Notices of Western New York." It was the first 
 
 1 Harper s Cyclopaedia of American History. 
 
Appendix 
 
 work of its kind ever published in the interior of the continent. 
 Mr. O Rielly was also the author of " Personal Recollections 
 of Major Van Campen, the Guide and Chief Quartermaster of 
 General Sullivan ; " " The Personal Recollections of William 
 Wood ; " u Personal Recollections of Thomas Morris," the 
 son and representative of Robert Morris ; " Personal Recollec 
 tions of John Greig, M. C. ; " " Sketch of the Formation of 
 the First Regiment of the National Guards," now the Seventh 
 Regiment, of which he was Orderly Sergeant. 
 " Memoir " concerning American Journalism. 
 " Memorial " concerning Public School System. 
 " Memorial " in regard of right of Telegraph Constructors. 
 " Memorials " to President Polk, to Congress, National Con 
 
 ventions, and State Legislatures to urge the stationing troops 
 
 for security of travellers and settlers between the Missis 
 
 sippi and Pacific Ocean. 
 
 " Memorial to Supreme Court against Telegraph Monopoly." 
 u History Getting Right," rendering justice to Prof. Joseph 
 
 Henry, of Smithsonian Institute, and Mr. Alfred Vail. 
 u Resolutions and Correspondence," New York State Agricul 
 
 tural Society 18445. 
 u American Political Anti-masonry." 
 " Origin of Mormonism and its Golden Bible." 
 " True Causes of the Great Rebellion." 
 " Historical Sketch of the Origin of Enlisting Colored 
 
 Troops." 
 
 Mr. O Rielly was also the compiler and author of various 
 publications issued by the " Democratic League " and the 
 compiler and annotator of more than fifty volumes of papers 
 and documents concerning " Public Improvement Enter 
 prises " in which he had taken part. He also composed 
 many poems, usually patriotic, some of which were set to 
 music. He also frequently contributed articles to the public 
 press, and at the close of the war he published a " memento 
 of Captain Brooks O Reilly," his eldest son, who after the 
 besieging of Yorktown fell during the attack upon Williams- 
 burgh, Va. 
 
 Thomas Windeatt Blatchford, M.D., was born in Topham, 
 Devonshire, England, on the twentieth of July, 1794. His 
 
 [ 2 6 7 ] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 father, the Rev. Samuel Blatchford, removed to this country 
 when Thomas was an infant, and first settled in Bedford, 
 N. Y., and afterwards in Greenfield Hill, Conn., to which 
 place he was called as the successor of Dr. Dwight, who had 
 accepted the presidency of Yale College. He was subse 
 quently called to the pastoral charge of the united congrega 
 tions of Lansingburgh and Waterford, N. Y., in 1804, where 
 he spent the most of his useful life. 
 
 Dr. Blatchford s early studies were prosecuted under the 
 direction of his father, in Lansingburgh Academy, of which 
 his father was the principal. In 1810 he commenced the 
 study of medicine under Dr. John Taylor of Lansingburgh, 
 and in 1813 he matriculated at the "College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons. * In 1815 he went to England and attended 
 two courses of lectures at the united schools of Guy s and 
 St. Thomas hospitals, given by Sir Astley Cooper and Pro 
 fessor Cline. In 1816 he returned to New York and after 
 attending another course of lectures he graduated in 1817. 
 His graduating thesis was upon "Feigned Diseases," being 
 the result of his observations and experience while attending 
 the State Prison. The paper was printed and gives evidence 
 of that judicious observation and accuracy of diagnosis which 
 distinguished his subsequent career as a medical man. After 
 receiving his degree of M.D. he opened an office in New 
 York City. He afterwards removed to Jamaica, Long Island, 
 where, gaining the confidence of the residents, he had an ex 
 tensive and arduous practice. In 1819 he married Harriet, 
 the daughter of Thomas Wickes, a descendant of one of the 
 original patentees of the town of Huntington in 1666, and 
 one of the leading men on Long Island, who took a prominent 
 part in our revolutionary struggle, being connected with the 
 American army during the entire war, in the quartermaster s 
 department, with the rank of major. While in Jamaica the 
 doctor identified himself with the interests of the town, being 
 a trustee in Union Hall Academy, and an active laborer in 
 works of religion and general benevolence. 
 
 In 1828, after the death of his father, Dr. Blatchford re 
 moved to Troy for the purpose of being near his widowed 
 mother. The successful treatment and cure of a clergyman 
 there whom several other physicians had treated unsuccess- 
 
 268 
 
Appendix 
 
 fully, caused him to become very popular, and for a period of 
 about forty years he was looked upon as a highly successful 
 practitioner and a cultivated and scientific medical man. 
 
 His intercourse with his associates was uniformly marked 
 by the amenities and courtesies of one who appreciated and 
 loved the honor of his profession. While jealous of his own 
 reputation, he paid a scrupulous regard to the reputation and 
 rights of others. He took great pleasure in rendering aid and 
 encouragement to his professional juniors, and even assisted 
 them materially. His interest in the advancement and welfare 
 of his profession was manifested in his efforts for the promo 
 tion of medical association. The State and county medical 
 societies, and the American Medical Association, were re 
 garded as worthy of his active efforts for their promotion. 
 He was rarely absent from their meetings, and their records 
 bear evidence not only of his interest in their welfare, but of 
 his sound judgment in the adoption of measures calculated to 
 promote the cause of medical science. 
 
 Dr. Blatchford is favorably known by his published papers 
 and essays, which are as follows : " Inaugural Dissertation 
 on Feigned Diseases," in 1817; " Letters," &c., 1823; "Let 
 ters to Married Ladies," 1825; "Homoeopathy Illustrated," 
 1824. One of the earliest discussions of the delusion which 
 was published and which has always been regarded as possessed 
 of peculiar merit, " Equivocal Generation," 1844. " Inaugural 
 Address before the Medical Society of the State of New 
 York;" "Memoir of Charles Lyman, Esq.," 1849; "Two 
 Cases of Hydrophobia," 1854; "Report on Hydrophobia," 
 1856, read before the American Medical Association, and 
 published in their Transactions ; " Report on Rest and the 
 Abolition of Pain, as Curative Remedies," 1856; "Eulogy 
 on Dr. Samuel McClellan," 1859; "Alumni Oration before 
 the College of Physicians and Surgeons," New York, 1861 ; 
 besides many articles for newspapers, and papers contributed 
 to the medical and surgical journals. 
 
 Dr. Blatchford kept a meteorological journal from the year 
 1824; noting the range of the thermometer and barometer, 
 direction of the wind and aspect of the weather, account of 
 rain, snow, &c. His accuracy and care in these observations 
 were well known, and the testimony of his record on these 
 
 [269] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 subjects, was regarded as conclusive. He was a philanthropist 
 in the highest sense of the term. The temperance cause re 
 ceived his earnest and most systematic efforts for its promo 
 tion. Every enterprise for the advancement of the well-being 
 of his fellow-men, at home or abroad, found in him an earnest 
 friend, and active and consistent colaborer. 
 
 Dr. Blatchford was connected with the Marshall Infirmary 
 of Troy from its foundation. The Lunatic Asylum connected 
 with the Infirmary was projected by him. Upon his death 
 the governors, in their tribute to his memory, express their 
 "irreparable loss" in the death of their associate, and declare 
 that his place in their councils "can never be wholly rilled," 
 and that his labors in the care of the institution " have been 
 such that few can ever equal." He left his valuable medical 
 library of over six hundred volumes to the institution. The be 
 quest was accepted by the governors, who resolved to place the 
 books in a separate apartment to be known as the " Blatchford 
 Medical Library of the Marshall Infirmary." 
 
 The doctor was connected for a period of seven years with 
 the Board of Education of the city of Troy, and was its 
 presiding officer during most of that time. To the cause of 
 education he gave his untiring energies. Regarding the health 
 of the body as essential as the improvement of the mind he 
 drew the plan of most of the schoolhouses of the city, so as 
 to secure pure air and thorough ventilation. One of the 
 public schools was named, in 1862, the Blatchford School. 
 He was also a trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 
 and of the Troy Female Seminary. 
 
 Dr. Blatchford s reputation as a man of science was recog 
 nized in the degree of A.M., by Union College in 1815; in 
 his election as Fellow of the Albany Medical College in 
 1834; President of the Rensselaer County Medical Society 
 1842-3; Permanent member of the Medical Society of the 
 State of New York, 1845, anc ^ * ts President in 1847 > Mem 
 ber of the American Association for the Advancement of 
 Science, 1 849 ; Corresponding Fellow of New York Academy 
 of Medicine, 1847 > Vice-president of the American Medical 
 Association, 1856; Corresponding Member of the Academy 
 of Science, St. Louis, 1857 Fellow of the College of Physi 
 cians and Surgeons, New York, 1861 ; Honorary Member of 
 
 [270] 
 
Appendix 
 
 the Medical Society of New Jersey, 1861, and of the Medical 
 Society of Connecticut, 1862. 
 
 As a Christian a uniform and consistent piety formed a part 
 of the man. In his daily round of duties, professional, civil, 
 social, as well as in those more peculiarly religious, his aim 
 seemed always to be to " do all things to the glory of God." 
 He seldom absented himself from the services of the sanctuary. 
 So unusual was his absence that when at rare intervals it 
 did happen, the minister would send to his residence, under 
 the apprehension that he was ill. It is said that a certain 
 physician in Troy had been admonished for his uniform 
 absence from services on Sundays, and he excused himself 
 on the ground of professional duty, and he was asked why 
 Dr. Blatchford could attend church so regularly, whereupon 
 he acknowledged that he could not understand it, as his prac 
 tice was not so large as Dr. Blatchford s. He was advised to 
 learn the doctor s secret, and upon calling upon the latter for 
 the purpose, the doctor said to him : u You always attend your 
 consultations, don t you, doctor ? " " Oh, yes," he replied. 
 " And you aim to be always punctual to your appointments, 
 don t you ? " He answered in the affirmative, and with empha 
 sis. " Well," said Dr. Blatchford, " I have a consultation with 
 my Divine Master at ten o clock every Sunday morning, and 
 I make all my arrangements to meet my appointment." 
 
 His piety was not severe, but always beautiful ; ever cheer 
 ful, often jocose and eminently social, his society was wel 
 come to every circle. He fell asleep in Jesus Jan. yth, 1866. 
 Memoir by Stephen Wickes, A.M., M.D. 
 
 \_See page 234] 
 
 In the notes to " The Lord of the Isles " we find an ac 
 count of the cruel execution of Sir Simon Frazer, called in the 
 poem the " flower of chivalry." 
 
 NOTE. "Sir Simon Frazer, or Frizel, ancestor of the 
 family of Lovat, is dwelt upon at great length, and with savage 
 exultation, by the English historians. This knight, who was 
 renowned for personal gallantry, and high deeds of chivalry, was 
 made prisoner, after a gallant defence, in the battle of Methuen. 
 Some stanzas of a ballad of the times give minute particulars 
 of his fate. It was written immediately at the period, for it 
 
 [971] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 mentions the Earl of Athole as not yet in custody. It has been 
 translated out of the rude orthography of the times to make it 
 intelligible." 
 
 " This was before Saint Bartholomew s mass, 
 
 That Frizel was y -taken, were it more other less, 
 To Sir Thomas of Multon, gentil baron and free, 
 And to Sir Johan Jose be-take tho was he 
 
 To hand 
 
 He was y-fettered wele 
 Both with iron and with steel 
 
 To bringen of Scotland. 
 
 " Soon thereafter the tiding to the King come, 
 He sent him to London, with mony armed groom, 
 He came hi at Newgate, I tell you it on a-plight, 
 A garland of leaves on his head y-dight 
 
 Of green, 
 
 For he should be y-know 
 Both of high and of low, 
 
 For traitour I ween. 
 
 " Y-fettered were his legs under his horse s wombe, 
 Both with iron and with steel mancled were his hond ; 
 A garland of pervynk 1 set upon his heved, 2 
 Much was the power that him was bereved 
 
 In land 
 
 So God me amend, 
 Little he ween d 
 
 So to be brought in hand. 
 
 " This was upon our lady s even, forsooth I understand, 
 The Justices sate for the knights of Scotland, 
 Sir Thomas of Multon, an kinde knyght and wise, 
 And Sir Ralph of Sandwich that mickle is told in price, 
 
 And Sir Johan Abel, 
 Moe I might tell by tale 
 Both of great and of small 
 
 Ye know sooth well. 
 
 " Then said the Justice, that gentil is and free, 
 Sir Simond Frizel the king s traiter hast thou be; 
 
 1 Periwinkle. 2 Head. 
 
Appendix 
 
 In water and in land that mony mighten see, 
 What sayst thou thereto, how will thou quite thee, 
 
 Do say. 
 
 So foul he him wist, 
 Nede war on trust 
 
 For to say nay. 
 
 " With fetters and with gives 1 y-hot he was to draw 
 From the Tower of London that many men might know, 
 In a kirtle of burel, a selcouth wise, 
 And a garland on his head of the new guise. 
 
 Through Cheape 
 Many men of England 
 For to see Symond 
 
 Thitherward can leap. 
 
 Though he cam to the gallows first he was on hung, 
 All quick beheaded that him thought long ; 
 Then he was y-opened, his bowels y-brend, 2 
 The heved to London Bridge was send 
 
 To shende. 
 
 So evermore mote I the, 
 Some while weened he 
 
 Thus little to stand. 8 
 
 " He rideth through the city, as I tell may, 
 With gamen and with solace that was their play, 
 To London-bridge he took the way, 
 Mony was the wives child that thereon lacketh a day 4 
 
 And said alas ! 
 That he was y-born, 
 And so vilely forlorn, 
 
 So fair man he was. 6 
 
 "Now standeth the heved above the tu-brigge, 
 Fast .by Wallace sooth for to segge ; 
 After succor of Scotland long may he pry ; 
 And after help of France what halt it to lie 
 
 I ween 
 
 Better him were in Scotland 
 With his axe in his hand 
 
 To play on the green/ &c. 
 
 1 He was condemned to be drawn. 2 Burned. 
 
 8 Meaning that he little thought ever to stand thus. 
 
 4 Saith lack a day. 
 
 5 The gallant knight was pitied by the female spectators. 
 
 [273} 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 " The Friday next, before the assumption of Our Lady, 
 King Edward met Robert the Bruce at Saint Johnstowne in 
 Scotland, and with his company, of which company King 
 Edward qvelde seven thousand. When Robert the Bruce 
 saw this mischief and gan to flee, an hov d him that men 
 might not him find ; but Sir Simond Frisell (Frazer) pursued 
 was so sore, that he turned again and abode bataille, for he 
 was a worthy knight and a bolde of body, and the English 
 men pursuede him sore on every side and qvelde the steed that 
 sir Simon Frisell rode upon, and then toke him and led him 
 to the host. And Sir Symond began to speke fair, and saide, 
 Lordys, I shall give you four thousand marks -of silver, and 
 myne horse and harness, and all my armoure and income. 
 Tho , answered Thobaude of Pevenes, that was the king s 
 archer, now, God me so helpe, it is for nought that thou 
 speakest, for all the gold of England I would not let thee go 
 without commandment of King Edward. And tho he was 
 led to the king, and the king would not see him, but com 
 manded to lead him away to his doom in London, on our 
 Lady s even nativity. And he was hung and drawn and his 
 head smitten off, and hanged again with chains of iron upon 
 the gallows and his head was set at London-bridge upon a 
 spear, and against Christmas the body was burnt." 
 
 We have quoted these notes in full for three reasons : of 
 which the first is that there are many of Sir Simon Frazer s 
 descendants living in America who may not have read them 
 before ; to picture the extreme cruelty with which brave men 
 were treated in those times ; and to show the changes the Eng 
 lish language has undergone, when even this version has been 
 u translated out of its rude orthography." 
 
 [Set page 234] 
 
 The family of Biddle have added many important names to 
 the roll of honor of their adopted country. In what year any 
 of its members first came to America we know not, but they 
 were settlers and proprietaries of western New Jersey before 
 the war of independence. Clement Biddle, in 1764, united 
 with others to form a military corps for the protection of the 
 friendly Indians against the zealots called Paxton boys. He 
 and his brother, Owen Biddle, identified themselves with the 
 
 [274] 
 
Appendix 
 
 non-importation resolutions of 1765. During the Revolution, 
 Clement was instrumental in forming the body of Quaker 
 volunteers of which he was colonel. He took part in the 
 battle of Trenton and was appointed by Washington to re 
 ceive the swords of the Hessian officers. He also served in 
 the battles of Princeton, the Brandywine, Germantown, and 
 Monmouth. He, as well as his brother Owen, had a share in 
 framing the revolutionary State constitution of 1776. 
 
 Edward Biddle was an officer in the French war, 1756-63. 
 He was speaker in the Assembly, and a delegate from Penn 
 sylvania to the Continental Congress 1774-6 and 1778-9. 
 
 Nicholas Biddle entered the royal navy in 1770 and was 
 made captain in the U. S. Navy in 1776 and took several 
 prizes from the English. Freneau commemorated his death 
 in the following poem, although with too great poetical license 
 he represented him as falling in the moment of victory. Cap 
 tain Biddle met the adversary in a very unequal contest and 
 acted with great gallantry. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF 
 CAPTAIN NICHOLAS BIDDLE 
 
 Commander of the Randolph Frigate, blown up near Barbadoes 
 
 What distant thunders rend the skies, 
 What clouds of smoke in columns rise, 
 
 What means this dreadful roar ! 
 Is from his base Vesuvius thrown, 
 Is sky-topt Atlas tumbled down, 
 
 Or Etna s self no more ? 
 
 Shock after shock torments my ear ; 
 And lo ! two hostile ships appear, 
 
 Red lightnings round them glow : 
 The Yarmouth boasts of sixty-four, 
 The Randolph thirty-two no more 
 
 And will she fight this foe ! 
 
 The Randolph soon on Stygian streams 
 Shall coast along the land of dreams, 
 
 The islands of the dead ! 
 But Fate, that parts them on the deep 
 Shall save the Briton yet to weep 
 
 His days of victory fled. 
 
 [275] 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Say, who commands that dismal blaze, 
 Where yonder starry streamer plays ; 
 
 Does Mars with Jove engage ! 
 "Tis Biddle wings those angry fires, 
 Biddle whose bosom Jove inspires 
 
 With more than mortal rage. 
 
 Tremendous flash ! and hark, the ball 
 Drives through old Yarmouth, flames and all : 
 
 Her bravest sons expire ; 
 Did Mars himself approach so nigh, 
 Even Mars, without disgrace, might fly 
 
 The Randolph s fiercer fire. 
 
 The Briton views his mangled crew, 
 "And shall we strike to thirty two 
 
 (Said Hector, stain d with gore) 
 "Shall Britain s flag to these descend 
 " Rise and the glorious conflict end, 
 
 " Britons, I ask no more ! " 
 
 He spoke they charg d their cannon round, 
 Again the vaulted heavens resound, 
 
 The Randolph bore it all, 
 Then fix d her pointed cannons true 
 Away the unwieldy vengeance flew ; 
 
 Britain, thy warriors fall. 
 
 The Yarmouth saw, with dire dismay, 
 Her wounded hull, shrouds shot away, 
 
 Her boldest heroes dead 
 She saw amidst her floating slain 
 The conquering Randolph stem the main 
 
 She saw, she turn d and fled ! 
 
 That hour, blest chief, had she been thine, 
 Dear Biddle, had the powers divine 
 
 Been kind as thou wert brave ; 
 But Fate, who doom d thee to expire, 
 Prepar d an arrow, tipt with fire, 
 
 And mark d a wat ry grave. 
 
 And in that hour, when conquest came 
 Wing d at his ship a pointed flame, 
 
 [276} 
 
Appendix 
 
 That not even he could shun 
 The battle ceas d the Yarmouth fled, 
 The burning Randolph ruin spread, 
 
 And left her task undone. 
 
 James Biddle entered the navy in 1800. He served against 
 Tripoli, where he was taken prisoner and detained over a year 
 and a half. He served with great distinction in the war of 
 1812. For his services he received a gold medal from Con 
 gress, besides other honors. Captain Biddle was afterward 
 Commissioner to Turkey, China, etc. 
 
 Clement Cornell Biddle entered the naval service of the 
 United States in the beginning of the last century, but retired 
 to the study of law. He served in the war of 1812 with the 
 rank of colonel. 
 
 Richard Biddle was a lawyer and writer ; he served in Con 
 gress from 1837 to 1841. 
 
 Nicholas Biddle, the great American financier, was named 
 after his uncle, the naval officer. After graduating from 
 Princeton College he studied law, but being too young to 
 practise he went to France as Secretary to General Armstrong, 
 U. S. Minister. He afterwards went as Secretary to Mr. 
 Monroe, U. S. Minister to England. He travelled extensively 
 in Europe and gained a knowledge of the modern languages. 
 In 1810 he was in the House of Representatives of Pennsyl 
 vania, and in 1812-15 was State Senator. In 1819 Presi 
 dent Monroe appointed him government director of the United 
 States Bank, and upon the resignation of Mr. Cheves, he was 
 elected its president. The old charter expiring in 1836, the 
 bank ceased to exist. Its success, however, caused the Legis 
 lature of Pennsylvania to create a State bank, called the U. S. 
 Bank, and Mr. Biddle reluctantly accepted its presidency. In 
 1839, by reason of his failing health, Mr. Biddle resigned, 
 leaving the bank in an apparently prosperous condition. Two 
 years after his resignation it became insolvent. Mr. Biddle s 
 character won high eulogiums from even his political opponents. 
 Mr. Biddle, as president of the trustees of Girard College, 
 planned the building, as also that of the U. S. Custom House, 
 which was formerly the U. S. Bank. His speeches, essays, 
 and letters are said to exhibit great elegance with vigor of 
 
 [ 277 } 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 style. He married Miss Craig of Philadelphia, and after his 
 resignation retired to his country seat of Andalusia and devoted 
 himself to literary pursuits. 
 
 George W. Biddle practised law in Philadelphia. Besides 
 holding many minor offices in that city, he was a member of 
 the constitutional convention of Pennsylvania in 1873. He 
 became the leader of the bar of the State and was retained in 
 most cases of importance in the Supreme Court of the State. 
 Besides contributing numerous legal papers, he wrote transla 
 tions of the Greek orations of Demosthenes, and ^Eschines on 
 the Crown. 
 
 Col. James Biddle, of the Ninth Cavalry, U. S. A., served 
 in many engagements during the Civil War. His son, David 
 Harmony Biddle, is at the present time (1901) serving in 
 Manila. 
 
Index 
 
Index 
 
 ADAMS, 18, 72, 90, 96, 190 
 
 Addison, 141 
 
 Allaire, 42, 44, 46, 51, 55, 56, 
 
 62, 66, 90 
 Auboyneau, 46 
 Andre, 225 
 Andros, 22, 23 
 Armstrong, 277 
 Arnold, 123, 129, 134 
 Asshurst, 46 
 Atkinson, 191 
 Auchmuchty, 93 
 
 BACHE, 158 
 
 Bailey, 121, 181, 182, 183, 196, 
 
 205, 211 
 
 Baird, 44, 255, 256 
 Barbaric, 39, 46, 54 
 Barlow, 159, 221 
 Bartlett, 192 
 Basnage, 6 
 Bauer, 255 
 Bayard, 93 
 Bayeux, 46, 56 
 Bayle, 7 
 Bedford, 74 
 
 Bellemont, 33, 34, 35, 37 
 Benjamin, 160, 168 
 Benoit, 6 
 
 Beresford, 139, 228 
 Bernon, 33, 34, 36, 37, 39, 40, 
 
 4 1 * 42, 43> 44, 5 1 
 Berthier, 140 
 Biddle, 234, 274, 275, 276, 277, 
 
 278 
 
 Blatchford, 233, 234, 267, 268, 
 
 269, 270, 271 
 Bleecker, 64, 148 
 Bonaparte, 64 
 Booth, 114 
 Bouche, 41 
 
 Boudinot, n, 39, 118, 263 
 Bousfield, 64 
 Bowen, 151 
 Bradford, 18, 74 
 Brackenridge, 74, 78, 79 
 Brevoort, 219, 220 
 Bromfield, 123 
 Brooks, 264 
 Bruce, 274 
 Bryant, 224, 225 
 Buckley, 182, 183 
 Budleigh, 119 
 Burgoyne, 147 
 Burke, 228, 264 
 Burr, 17, 74, 90, 98, 172, 203 
 Burrows, 149 
 Butler, 139 
 Byron, 222 
 
 CALHOUN, 201, 265 
 Calvin, 4 
 Campan, 163 
 Campbell, 219, 221 
 Carle, 62 
 Carre, 41, 54 
 Carroll, 165 
 Gary, 180 
 Caryl, 30 
 Case, 128 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Cass, 148 
 
 Cayale, 46 
 
 Charron, 55, 257 
 
 Chatham, 119 
 
 Cheves, 277 
 
 Christian, 185 
 
 Clarke, 46 
 
 Clay, 265 
 
 Cleveland, 148, 234 
 
 Cline, 268 
 
 Clinton, 18, 30, 97, 99, 101, 122, 
 
 134, 147, 190, 201, 264 
 Cobbet, 189 
 Colbert, 4, 254 
 Golden, 93, 148, 201 
 Collier, 107 
 Conckling, 148 
 Cook, 125 
 Coole, 33 
 Cooper, 93, 268 
 Cornwallis, 99, 135 
 Cosby, 59 
 Cotes worth, 263 
 Covenhoven, 263 
 Crabbe, 228 
 Craig, 278 
 Croes, 232 
 Cromelin, 46 
 Crow, 119 
 Cruger, 93 
 Curtensius, 93 
 Cuyler, 128 
 
 DAILLE, 32, 33 
 Daller, 90 
 Davis, 190 
 Dayton, 208 
 
 Delancey, 17, 29, 46, 57, 62, 63, 
 7 8, 93, 121, 136, 148, 220, 
 
 Delarty, 59 
 Denison, 233 
 Dennie, 163 
 
 De Razieres, 21 
 
 Desbrosses, 63, 255 
 
 D Estaing, 102 
 
 Dewitt, 201 
 
 Dibdin, aiy 
 
 Dodge, 233 
 
 Dongan, 18, 22, 23, 33, 90 
 
 Douglas, 255 
 
 Droilet, 39, 46 
 
 Dryden, 221, 222, 224 
 
 Dubois, 67 
 
 Dudley, 43 
 
 Duponceau, 164 
 
 Du Pont, 42 
 
 Duyckinck, 129, 190 
 
 D wight, 268 
 
 EDGEWORTH, 228 
 Eggleston, 69 
 Ellsworth, 159 
 
 FAIRCHILD, 148, 149 
 Fairlie, 201 
 
 Faneuil, 42, 44, 45> 4 6 
 Fenno, 158, 159 
 Fish, 201 
 Fithian, 74 
 Fitzgerald, 230 
 Fontaine, 56, 57 
 Forman, 103, 147, 14* 
 
 232 
 Foy, 146 
 
 Francis, 137, l6 5 *99> aoo > 201 
 216 
 
 Franklin, 17, I 5 6 > X 7 8 
 
 Fraunce, 17 
 
 Frazer, 271, 274 
 
 Fredet, 6 
 
 Frost, 99 
 
 GAGE, 74, 93 J 3 a > J 37 
 Gaines, 18, 92, 133, 136, i37> 3* 
 218 
 
 [282] 
 
Index 
 
 Gates, 201 
 
 Gaudineau, 255 
 
 Genet, 30, 163, 164, 165, 167, 168 
 
 Gerry, 172, 187 
 
 Gordon, 149 
 
 Grant, 99 
 
 Granville, 172 
 
 Gray, 163, 222 
 
 Greeley, 185 
 
 Greene, 98, 103 
 
 Greenleaf, 167, 187, 188 
 
 Greig, 267 
 
 G rennet, 189 
 
 HALE, 100 
 
 Hamilton, 17, 59, 61, 93, 98, 
 
 156, 159, 162, 168, 169, 203 
 Hammill, 227, 233 
 Hanson, 83 
 Harper, 165, 266 
 Harris, 195, 234, 236 
 Harrison, 265 
 Harsmonden, 93 
 Heister, 99 
 Hempstead, 123 
 Hendrick, 58 
 Henry, 267 
 Het, 51, 55 
 Hobart, 46 
 Hodge, 185 
 Hopkins, 260 
 Hopkinson, 133, 201 
 Hosack, 200 
 Howe, 99 
 Hulings, 119 
 Hull, 204 
 Hume, 6 
 Humphrey, 162 
 Hunn, 68 
 Hunter, 58 
 
 JACKSON, 161, 225 
 Jamain, 36, 55 
 
 Jarvis, aoo 
 
 Jay, ii, 17, 46, 51, 52, 93, 172 
 
 Jebb, 64 
 
 Jefferson, 17, 126, 141, 143, 153, 
 i5 6 J57> 160, 164, 168, 169, 
 170, 171, 172, 173, 176, 198, 
 
 2OI, 2O2 
 
 Jeffries, 133 
 
 Johnson, 59, 162, 265 
 
 Jones, 96, 126, 130, 131, 201, 
 
 225, 260 
 Jouneau, 46 
 Jumel, 30 
 Jurien, 6 
 
 KEARNEY, 57, 59, 61, 66, 148 
 Kenedy, 30 
 Kirby, 142 
 Knox, 98, 162 
 Knyphausen, 102, 132, 134 
 
 LABOYTEAUX, no 
 
 Lafayette, 102, 126 
 
 Lamb, 93, 97, 190 
 
 Lamothe, 20 
 
 Landon, 128 
 
 Laport, 54 
 
 Larrey, 6 
 
 Laurens, n 
 
 Leadbeater, 120, 139, 170, 171, 
 
 228, 232, 233, 234, 235, 264 
 Lear, 162 
 Le Boyteulx, 39 
 
 Ledyard, 123, 125, 128, 148, 227 
 Lee, 74, 102, 103 
 Lehre, 143 
 
 Leisler, 24, 32, 33, 256 
 Le Roy, 42, 51 
 Lescour, 41 
 Lewis, 162 
 Lincoln, 122, 264 
 Linklaen, 148 
 Livingston, 18, 74, 91, 93, 148, 188 
 
Philip Freneau 
 
 Longworth, 204, 205 
 Lowe, 59 
 Lucas, 263 
 Luvois, 4, 5 
 Lyman, 260 
 
 MACDONOUGH, 204, 225 
 Madison, 17, 67, 74, 79, i5*> 
 
 156, 182, 183, 184, 187, 202, 
 
 204, 205, 207, 236 
 Mandeville, 13 
 Manly, 107 
 Marot, 57 
 Marshall, 167, 172 
 Martin, 101 
 Matthews, 258 
 Maury, 10 
 Mayarin, 4 
 McClellan, 260 
 McDougall, 93, 97 
 McEvers, 92 
 Middleton, 139 
 Miller, 26, 148, 201 
 Mills, in, 176, 263 
 Mitchell, 72, 73, 201 
 Monroe, 277 
 Montpensier, 234 
 Moore, 123, 128, 221 
 Morin, 52, 55, 56, 62, 65, 90 
 
 256, 257 
 
 Morris, 18, 59, 122, 267 
 Moulinars, 56 
 Murray, 27, 52, 100, 130, 216 
 
 NAPOLEON, 140, 230 
 Neau, 46 
 Nelson, 162 
 Newinhuysen, 45, 46 
 Nezereau, 46 
 Noel, 233 
 North, 132 
 
 D CALLAGHAN, 90 
 
 Ogden, 74 
 
 O Rielly, 229, 230, 231, 232, 
 
 254, 264, 265, 266, 267 
 Otis, 91, 92 
 
 PAINE, 159, 201 
 
 Papin, 41 
 
 Patterson, 61 
 
 Peale, 200 
 
 Peiret, 32, 33, 34, 39 
 
 Penn, 9 
 
 Percy, 132 
 
 Perez, 61 
 
 Perry, 225 
 
 Peters, 123 
 
 Philippse, 46, 90 
 
 Philips, 123 
 
 Pinckney, 120, 122, 143, 172, 
 
 187, 263 
 Pindar, 170 
 Pintard, 157, 158, 201 
 Poe, 223 
 Polk, 258 
 Poole, 4 
 Pope, 210, 221 
 Porter, 204 
 
 Provost, 63, 64, 65, 150, 201 
 Putnam, 98, 99 
 Pyncheon, 228 
 
 QUINTARD, 256, 257 
 
 RANDOLPH, 182 
 
 Richelieu, 2, 4 
 
 Rittenhouse, 159 
 
 Rivington, 133, 134, 135, 160, 218 
 
 Robertson, 191 
 
 Robins, 119 
 
 Rochambeau, 176 
 
 Rogers, 221 
 
 Ross, 225 
 
 Rou, 54, 56, 61, 6a 
 
 [284} 
 
Index 
 
 Rousseau, 168 
 Ruggles, 92 
 Rutger, 90, 100 
 Rutledge, 187 
 Ryer, 254 
 
 SCHUYLER, 58 
 
 Scott, 18, 52, 62, 89, 90, 91, 92, 
 93, 94, 95, 9 6 97, IOI > 10 3, 
 113, 219, 221, 258 
 
 Sears, 93, 133 
 
 Seymour, 128, 148, 149 
 
 Shackleton, 228, 264 
 
 Shaw, 56 
 
 Sigourney, 43 
 
 Smith, 90, 189, 211 
 
 Smyth, 207 
 
 Southey, 221 
 
 Spring, 74 
 
 Stanhope, 103 
 
 Steele, 120, 205 
 
 Stephens, 192 
 
 Steuben, 201 
 
 Stirling, 98, 99, 100 
 
 Stuyvesant, ai, 162 
 
 Sullivan, 98, 99, 100, 267 
 
 Sweeney, 233 
 
 TALMONT, 40 
 
 Tappan, 148 
 
 Tasso, 65 
 
 Taylor, 268 
 
 Tennant, 71 
 
 Tessereau, 6 
 
 Thomas, 139, i43 X 4 6 > T 5 J 
 
 Tobey, 83 
 
 Trelawney, 256 
 
 Trench, 228 
 
 Trumbull, 133, i4a, aai 
 
 Tryon, 99, 132 
 
 Clicker, 170, 264 
 Turnbull, 100 
 Tyler, 133 
 
 ULMANN, 259 
 
 VAIL, 128, 267 
 Van Brugh, 45, 46 
 Van Campen, 267 
 Van Cortlandt, 255 
 Van Dam, 19, 46 
 Van Rensselaer, 148, 149 
 Van Twiller, 21 
 Verplanck, 201, 217 
 Vesey, 52 
 Vincent, 46, 264 
 Voltaire, 140, 221 
 Von Kettler, 128, 148 
 Von Liebig, 234 
 
 WADSWORTH, 265 
 
 Walton, 29 
 
 Washington, 171, 172, 234, 255 
 
 Watson, 63, 66, 146, 166, 167, 
 
 256 
 
 Watts, 148 
 Wayne, loz 
 Webster, 265 
 Wenham, 46 
 Whitfield, 178 
 Wickes, 268 
 Willett, 257, 258, 259 
 Williams, 90, 100 
 Wilson, 156, 255 
 Witherspoon, 73, 75, 7 8 > X 33 
 Wood, 267 
 Woodhull, ioo 
 Wooster, 264 
 
 YOUNG, 123, 221 
 
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