[Poems by Hopkins in] The Echo with other poems |
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| 18. | ECHO.....NO. XVIII. |
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 | [Poems by Hopkins in] The Echo |  |
127
ECHO.....NO. XVIII.
From the Aurora.
128
HARTFORD, AUGUST, 1795.
“Lo the dire Hedge-Hog, from another sty,
“At titled Folly lets his arrows fly.”
“At titled Folly lets his arrows fly.”
Thou great descendant of that wond'rous man,
Whose genius wild through all creation ran—
That man who walk'd the world of science o'er,
From ink and types to where the thunders roar—
To thee, friend Bache, these lines I now address,
Prepar'd on purpose for thy hallow'd press.
Whose genius wild through all creation ran—
That man who walk'd the world of science o'er,
From ink and types to where the thunders roar—
To thee, friend Bache, these lines I now address,
Prepar'd on purpose for thy hallow'd press.
In thy blest paper, which, like clouds of night,
Lets in the darkness and shuts out the light,
I've seen an abstract of the Treaty dire,
Design'd to light the democratic fire.
As that has had full time to work its way,
And call the public spirit into play,
Before their passions have a chance to flag,
I'll let the cat out of the senate bag.
For ten long days my soul has been confin'd,
My thoughts all shackled, chain'd my free-born mind;
For though in secret whilst the Senate sat,
I did not figure greatly in debate,
Indeed I did not much incline to speak,
Yet my heart's sound although my head be weak.
And yet, in this respect, I'm not alone,
Eight other tongues were silent as my own;
Save once, when Johnny Langdon silence broke,
And for the space of half a minute spoke;
But finding out that he had started wrong,
He seal'd thenceforward his uneasy tongue.
On Burr alone our hopes and wishes lay,
Burr was our spokesman, counsellor, and stay,
In him we trusted for the last relief,
In times of trouble, and in hours of grief.
But though we could not reason quite so strong,
Discuss so ably, nor declaim so long,
Yet we'll convince them on the other side,
That our free tongues no longer shall be tied:
No haughty Senate, by its tyrant laws,
Shall longer lock our democratic jaws;
Perish their secrets—laws were made for fools,
We laugh to scorn the Senate and its rules.
In pure Republics secrets ne'er exist,
Knowledge like wind should blow where'er it list,
No man can claim a right exempt to know;
Science and Truth in common streams should flow.
Where each at will his parched bill may dip,
And, as occasion calls, enjoy a sip;
Thus borne away, a drop by every hand,
Knowledge will bless each corner of the land.
Hard, very hard would be the poor man's lot,
If every one might hoard up all he'd got,
From whence no common man supplies may draw,
Without transgressing some despotic law,
And thus establish, spite of all our pains,
A dreadful aristocracy of brains.
Lets in the darkness and shuts out the light,
I've seen an abstract of the Treaty dire,
Design'd to light the democratic fire.
As that has had full time to work its way,
And call the public spirit into play,
Before their passions have a chance to flag,
I'll let the cat out of the senate bag.
For ten long days my soul has been confin'd,
My thoughts all shackled, chain'd my free-born mind;
For though in secret whilst the Senate sat,
I did not figure greatly in debate,
129
Yet my heart's sound although my head be weak.
And yet, in this respect, I'm not alone,
Eight other tongues were silent as my own;
Save once, when Johnny Langdon silence broke,
And for the space of half a minute spoke;
But finding out that he had started wrong,
He seal'd thenceforward his uneasy tongue.
On Burr alone our hopes and wishes lay,
Burr was our spokesman, counsellor, and stay,
In him we trusted for the last relief,
In times of trouble, and in hours of grief.
But though we could not reason quite so strong,
Discuss so ably, nor declaim so long,
Yet we'll convince them on the other side,
That our free tongues no longer shall be tied:
No haughty Senate, by its tyrant laws,
Shall longer lock our democratic jaws;
Perish their secrets—laws were made for fools,
We laugh to scorn the Senate and its rules.
In pure Republics secrets ne'er exist,
Knowledge like wind should blow where'er it list,
No man can claim a right exempt to know;
Science and Truth in common streams should flow.
Where each at will his parched bill may dip,
And, as occasion calls, enjoy a sip;
Thus borne away, a drop by every hand,
Knowledge will bless each corner of the land.
130
If every one might hoard up all he'd got,
From whence no common man supplies may draw,
Without transgressing some despotic law,
And thus establish, spite of all our pains,
A dreadful aristocracy of brains.
We're all determin'd (we the virtuous ten,
The major part of thirty common men;
For by the rules of democratic lore,
Twenty is less than ten by three or four,)
I say that we're determin'd, one and all,
That Jay's vile treaty to the ground shall fall.
Doubtless the subject will much heat excite,
Blockheads will prate, and demagogues will write,
From Club to Club the uproar will expand,
Fill all our towns and spread throughout the land.
But chief in towns, as long experience shows,
Each factious plant in rank luxuriance grows;
For there collects the scum of human race,
The dark-soul'd plotter, and the villain base.
The major part of thirty common men;
For by the rules of democratic lore,
Twenty is less than ten by three or four,)
I say that we're determin'd, one and all,
That Jay's vile treaty to the ground shall fall.
Doubtless the subject will much heat excite,
Blockheads will prate, and demagogues will write,
From Club to Club the uproar will expand,
Fill all our towns and spread throughout the land.
But chief in towns, as long experience shows,
Each factious plant in rank luxuriance grows;
For there collects the scum of human race,
The dark-soul'd plotter, and the villain base.
O thou, my native land, by Heaven design'd
As the last refuge of the human kind,
The land where Freedom built her blest abode,
Where lavish Nature all her blessings strew'd,
Where Health and Plenty hand in hand appear,
And pleasure wantons through the varied year,
Oft thy horizon blackening storms o'ercast,
And bend thine honours to the sweeping blast.
To civic feasts, dark clubs, and riots fell,
The plots of traitors and the lies of hell.
But let us overhaul this mighty ten,
(This major part of thirty common men)
On whom their country's glory seems to rest,
Safe as a secret in a gossip's breast.
First Irish James, a red-hot blust'ring blade,
By nature honest, but so so by trade.
His eye-sight reaching only to his nose,
He thinks the world beyond is fill'd with woes,
And thus beclouded mid a flood of light,
Each object startles, empty sounds affright;
While one short maxim rules his heart and tongue—
“What I can't see through certainly is wrong.”
Pierce Butler next, a man of sterling worth,
Because he justly claims a noble birth;
Doubtless great Ormond's Duke foresaw in thee,
The heir of freedom and equality.
North Carolina boasts her number twain,
Men form'd to vote, but never to explain.
Obedient still, they do as they are bid,
And follow where their wiser masters lead.
Ah Thomson Mason! long thy fame shall rise
With democratic incense to the skies!
Long shall the world admire thy manly soul,
Which scorn'd the haughty Senate's base controul,
Came boldly forward with thy weighty name,
And gave the treaty up for public game,
Expecting, doubtless, that thy praise would sound,
When the full glass, and patriot toast went round.
But be assur'd, that though the sons of rout,
When drunk, may push thy name with glee about,
Though Faction's slave, Ben Austin, lifts the hand,
And hails thee saviour of the sinking land—
Yet honest men with indignation fraught,
Will search thy bosom to the inmost thought,
And on thy brow will fix a deeper stain,
Than ting'd the murderous front of guilty Cain.
Decent thy Colleague is, a man of merit,
Though tinctur'd strong with Jacobinic spirit.
Kentucky from her mountain heights afar,
Sends forth John Brown t' engage in treaty war.
Next in the train the courtly Burr is seen,
With winning aspect, and with varying mien;
Though small his stature, yet his well-known name,
Shines with full splendour on the roll of fame.
Go search the records of intrigue, and find
To what debasement sinks the human mind,
How far 'tis possible for man to go,
Where interest sways and passions urge the blow;
While pride and pleasure, haughtiness and scorn,
And mad ambition in his bosom burn.
Next from New-Hampshire, fill'd with feverish fire,
To climb ambition's steep a little higher,
See Johnny Langdon, searching every side,
To find where patriots safest can abide:
But when at length our Southern brethren saw,
His ballast was not proof against a flaw,
They told the foolish fellow how to steer,
Which point his course to lay, and when to veer,
And as a rich reward, with kindly grace,
They'd try to hoist him into Adams' place.
Poor doting Moses! wherefore dost thou stray?
Is the good rougher than the evil way?
Or can thy stupid undiscerning head,
Alone by Faction and her sons be led?
Thou weak old man! 'tis little short of crime,
On thee to waste the smallest space of time.
As the last refuge of the human kind,
The land where Freedom built her blest abode,
Where lavish Nature all her blessings strew'd,
Where Health and Plenty hand in hand appear,
And pleasure wantons through the varied year,
Oft thy horizon blackening storms o'ercast,
And bend thine honours to the sweeping blast.
131
The plots of traitors and the lies of hell.
But let us overhaul this mighty ten,
(This major part of thirty common men)
On whom their country's glory seems to rest,
Safe as a secret in a gossip's breast.
First Irish James, a red-hot blust'ring blade,
By nature honest, but so so by trade.
His eye-sight reaching only to his nose,
He thinks the world beyond is fill'd with woes,
And thus beclouded mid a flood of light,
Each object startles, empty sounds affright;
While one short maxim rules his heart and tongue—
“What I can't see through certainly is wrong.”
Pierce Butler next, a man of sterling worth,
Because he justly claims a noble birth;
Doubtless great Ormond's Duke foresaw in thee,
The heir of freedom and equality.
North Carolina boasts her number twain,
Men form'd to vote, but never to explain.
Obedient still, they do as they are bid,
And follow where their wiser masters lead.
Ah Thomson Mason! long thy fame shall rise
With democratic incense to the skies!
Long shall the world admire thy manly soul,
Which scorn'd the haughty Senate's base controul,
Came boldly forward with thy weighty name,
And gave the treaty up for public game,
132
When the full glass, and patriot toast went round.
But be assur'd, that though the sons of rout,
When drunk, may push thy name with glee about,
Though Faction's slave, Ben Austin, lifts the hand,
And hails thee saviour of the sinking land—
Yet honest men with indignation fraught,
Will search thy bosom to the inmost thought,
And on thy brow will fix a deeper stain,
Than ting'd the murderous front of guilty Cain.
Decent thy Colleague is, a man of merit,
Though tinctur'd strong with Jacobinic spirit.
Kentucky from her mountain heights afar,
Sends forth John Brown t' engage in treaty war.
Next in the train the courtly Burr is seen,
With winning aspect, and with varying mien;
Though small his stature, yet his well-known name,
Shines with full splendour on the roll of fame.
Go search the records of intrigue, and find
To what debasement sinks the human mind,
How far 'tis possible for man to go,
Where interest sways and passions urge the blow;
While pride and pleasure, haughtiness and scorn,
And mad ambition in his bosom burn.
Next from New-Hampshire, fill'd with feverish fire,
To climb ambition's steep a little higher,
133
To find where patriots safest can abide:
But when at length our Southern brethren saw,
His ballast was not proof against a flaw,
They told the foolish fellow how to steer,
Which point his course to lay, and when to veer,
And as a rich reward, with kindly grace,
They'd try to hoist him into Adams' place.
Poor doting Moses! wherefore dost thou stray?
Is the good rougher than the evil way?
Or can thy stupid undiscerning head,
Alone by Faction and her sons be led?
Thou weak old man! 'tis little short of crime,
On thee to waste the smallest space of time.
Believe me, Sir, I've not the smallest doubt,
That when this publication shall come out,
Our countrymen will in a ferment glow,
And wage dire war where e'er news papers go.
Long has the Treaty lurk'd beneath the shade,
And long the work of mischief been delay'd,
But game like this don't offer every day,
I'll throw it out and let the bull-dogs play.
Full well I see how Democrats will meet,
And drink seditious toasts at every treat,
Roar out to Liberty to save the land,
And damn a treaty they don't understand.
Full well I see how every mother's son,
In wild disorder through New-York will run,
While hosts of cartmen, tinkers, sweepers bawl,
“Damnation seize the Treaty, Jay and all!”
To these succeed a patriotic train,
Of whigs scarce rescu'd from their brethren slain;
Old whigs of seventy-six—whom fate decreed,
Not for the cause of liberty to bleed;
But Irish whigs, accomplish'd in the art,
To take of others' property a part,
Who nightly risqued the stretching of the neck,
To rob a hen-roost, or a pocket pick.
Perchance three quarters of this patriot band,
Within three months first saw this suffering land;
Sold for their passage, from the gallows sav'd
That this vile country need not be enslav'd.
That when this publication shall come out,
Our countrymen will in a ferment glow,
And wage dire war where e'er news papers go.
Long has the Treaty lurk'd beneath the shade,
And long the work of mischief been delay'd,
But game like this don't offer every day,
I'll throw it out and let the bull-dogs play.
Full well I see how Democrats will meet,
And drink seditious toasts at every treat,
Roar out to Liberty to save the land,
And damn a treaty they don't understand.
Full well I see how every mother's son,
In wild disorder through New-York will run,
134
“Damnation seize the Treaty, Jay and all!”
To these succeed a patriotic train,
Of whigs scarce rescu'd from their brethren slain;
Old whigs of seventy-six—whom fate decreed,
Not for the cause of liberty to bleed;
But Irish whigs, accomplish'd in the art,
To take of others' property a part,
Who nightly risqued the stretching of the neck,
To rob a hen-roost, or a pocket pick.
Perchance three quarters of this patriot band,
Within three months first saw this suffering land;
Sold for their passage, from the gallows sav'd
That this vile country need not be enslav'd.
Far to the south, where on her oozy bed,
Like some sick sea-nymph, Charleston bows her head
Her languid sons collect in solemn state,
To join their sages in the grand debate.
But chief on Boston's sons our hopes rely,
There Expectation turns her anxious eye;
There Faction hatches first her glorious brood,
There Riot finds perpetual stores of food,
There wild Disorder all her poison sheds,
There Insurrection lifts her hundred heads.
Do thou, friend Bache, the Treaty bear along,
Post haste to shew it to the Boston throng;
Drive through Connecticut with swiftest speed;
Stop not to sleep, nor scarcely stop to feed;
For Democrats find sure destruction there,
As quick as toads and snakes in Irish air,
And bid (of late though rather under par)
Great Jarvis wage again the wordy war,
Again attempt with Federal strength to cope,
And not forget that while there's life, there's hope,
Bid him pursue Sedition's beaten way,
Town-meetings lead both knaves and fools astray.
Like some sick sea-nymph, Charleston bows her head
Her languid sons collect in solemn state,
To join their sages in the grand debate.
But chief on Boston's sons our hopes rely,
There Expectation turns her anxious eye;
There Faction hatches first her glorious brood,
There Riot finds perpetual stores of food,
There wild Disorder all her poison sheds,
There Insurrection lifts her hundred heads.
135
Post haste to shew it to the Boston throng;
Drive through Connecticut with swiftest speed;
Stop not to sleep, nor scarcely stop to feed;
For Democrats find sure destruction there,
As quick as toads and snakes in Irish air,
And bid (of late though rather under par)
Great Jarvis wage again the wordy war,
Again attempt with Federal strength to cope,
And not forget that while there's life, there's hope,
Bid him pursue Sedition's beaten way,
Town-meetings lead both knaves and fools astray.
Now see the Demagogue in haste advance,
Seize his broad shield, and shake his trusty lance,
In Faction's cause for furious fight prepare,
Unfurl her flag, her bloody standard rear.
See at his nod his spaniel, Adams, run—
“Fire! fire!” he cries, “the world is all undone!
“The awful day of Judgment's near at hand!
“Hell's flames already kindle in the land!
“Help! help! O Faction! stretch thy arm to save,
“Thy sons, thy cause, sink downward to the grave.”
Thus wretched Type runs raving round the streets,
Accosting every democrat he meets—
“Call a town meeting, call, for God's sake call,
“Or soon our Club, and eke our Cause will fall!
“Soon will disgrace our every step attend.
“And all our prospects in confusion end.”
Seize his broad shield, and shake his trusty lance,
In Faction's cause for furious fight prepare,
Unfurl her flag, her bloody standard rear.
See at his nod his spaniel, Adams, run—
“Fire! fire!” he cries, “the world is all undone!
“The awful day of Judgment's near at hand!
“Hell's flames already kindle in the land!
“Help! help! O Faction! stretch thy arm to save,
“Thy sons, thy cause, sink downward to the grave.”
Thus wretched Type runs raving round the streets,
Accosting every democrat he meets—
“Call a town meeting, call, for God's sake call,
“Or soon our Club, and eke our Cause will fall!
“Soon will disgrace our every step attend.
“And all our prospects in confusion end.”
136
The day arrives, a day o'ercast with gloom,
“Big with the fate of Cato and of Rome.”
From every hole, behold the shabby throng,
To Fanueil-Hall creep anxiously along—
A Club which treaties never knew nor saw,
A Club much better known to civil law;
Too poor to profit should the Treaty stand,
Too poor to lose if ruin whelms the land;
But proper tools for Jarvis to employ,
Prepar'd to riot, pillage, and destroy.
“Big with the fate of Cato and of Rome.”
From every hole, behold the shabby throng,
To Fanueil-Hall creep anxiously along—
A Club which treaties never knew nor saw,
A Club much better known to civil law;
Too poor to profit should the Treaty stand,
Too poor to lose if ruin whelms the land;
But proper tools for Jarvis to employ,
Prepar'd to riot, pillage, and destroy.
Now loud and clam'rous the debate begins—
Jarvis his thread of tropes and figures spins;
And often pauses, often calls aloud,
On every member of the gaping crowd,
To shew him, if the Treaty should go down,
Why Faction's hopes were not forever flown—
“And here, my friends, I solemnly declare,
(And by your looks I shall not make you stare)
'Tis not John Jay that calls your speaker here,
'Tis not against the Treaty I appear—
To read it through I ne'er have taken pains,
And scarcely know a sentence it contains—
But government, 'tis government I dread,
Which hangs like Sinai o'er the pilgrim's head.
The time is come when Jacobins must make
Their last exertions for Sedition's sake,
When Federal measures, Federal men must fall,
Or ruin seize ourselves, our plans, and all.
This Treaty cuts us off from every chance,
Of fighting Britain, and of helping France;
Of course, no hope of war will then remain,
And we must settle down in peace again.
Now who would wish to live in endless peace,
To see his wealth and happiness increase?
And yet so long as government shall stand,
'Twill spread its terrors o'er this dastard land,
And what its wisdom e'er shall choose to say,
We Democrats must tremble and obey,
A dismal proof of this we lately saw,
When Faction yielded, and when triumph'd law;
When, boldly rang'd along rebellion's field,
Our Whiskey brethren rais'd the daring shield;
When all our Clubs with expectation view'd,
The hopeful prospect of a time of blood;
When low in dust our government should lie,
And peace and safety from our country fly;
When true French Freedom from th' abyss of hell,
On misery bent, and ravening fierce to kill,
Arm'd with her bloody knife and flaming brand,
Should roll her car tremendous o'er the land.
But soon appear'd great Freedom's awful form,
Still grew the thunder, disappear'd the storm,
Back shrunk Rebellion from her flashing sight,
And all our prospects vanish'd into night.
Now I'm for living free, entirely free,
God never made a man to govern me;
And hence this inference I most clearly draw—
That we may prostrate government and law.
And let us now the glorious work begin,
To flinch is cowardice, to doubt is sin.
All who attempt the treaty to uphold,
W'ell swear are traitors, bought by British gold:
One of that sort has impudently said,
He should be glad to hear the Treaty read:
He wish'd delays—delays must not be had,
I've never read it, but I swear 'tis bad;
If it goes down, I'll bet my ears and eyes,
It will the people all unpop'larize,
Blockheads may hear it read ere they decide,
I move it quickly be unratified.”
Jarvis his thread of tropes and figures spins;
And often pauses, often calls aloud,
On every member of the gaping crowd,
To shew him, if the Treaty should go down,
Why Faction's hopes were not forever flown—
“And here, my friends, I solemnly declare,
(And by your looks I shall not make you stare)
'Tis not John Jay that calls your speaker here,
'Tis not against the Treaty I appear—
To read it through I ne'er have taken pains,
And scarcely know a sentence it contains—
But government, 'tis government I dread,
Which hangs like Sinai o'er the pilgrim's head.
The time is come when Jacobins must make
Their last exertions for Sedition's sake,
When Federal measures, Federal men must fall,
Or ruin seize ourselves, our plans, and all.
137
Of fighting Britain, and of helping France;
Of course, no hope of war will then remain,
And we must settle down in peace again.
Now who would wish to live in endless peace,
To see his wealth and happiness increase?
And yet so long as government shall stand,
'Twill spread its terrors o'er this dastard land,
And what its wisdom e'er shall choose to say,
We Democrats must tremble and obey,
A dismal proof of this we lately saw,
When Faction yielded, and when triumph'd law;
When, boldly rang'd along rebellion's field,
Our Whiskey brethren rais'd the daring shield;
When all our Clubs with expectation view'd,
The hopeful prospect of a time of blood;
When low in dust our government should lie,
And peace and safety from our country fly;
When true French Freedom from th' abyss of hell,
On misery bent, and ravening fierce to kill,
Arm'd with her bloody knife and flaming brand,
Should roll her car tremendous o'er the land.
But soon appear'd great Freedom's awful form,
Still grew the thunder, disappear'd the storm,
Back shrunk Rebellion from her flashing sight,
And all our prospects vanish'd into night.
Now I'm for living free, entirely free,
God never made a man to govern me;
138
That we may prostrate government and law.
And let us now the glorious work begin,
To flinch is cowardice, to doubt is sin.
All who attempt the treaty to uphold,
W'ell swear are traitors, bought by British gold:
One of that sort has impudently said,
He should be glad to hear the Treaty read:
He wish'd delays—delays must not be had,
I've never read it, but I swear 'tis bad;
If it goes down, I'll bet my ears and eyes,
It will the people all unpop'larize,
Blockheads may hear it read ere they decide,
I move it quickly be unratified.”
So said—so done—with Democratic view,
They saw the direful Treaty through and through;
And standing thus unread, and unexplain'd,
They found much in it that it ne'er contain'd:
The vote was pass'd, each bobby rais'd his hand,
And thought himself, no doubt, the saviour of the land.
They saw the direful Treaty through and through;
And standing thus unread, and unexplain'd,
They found much in it that it ne'er contain'd:
139
And thought himself, no doubt, the saviour of the land.
Now great Honestus from his seat arose,
Thrice strok'd his chops, and thrice survey'd his toes,
Thrice strove his mighty project to declare,
Thrice paus'd to see G******r was there;
For well he knew the satirizing priest,
Would hang him up a scare-crow and a jest,
If once he saw his wayward footsteps stray,
But a small distance in the factious way.
Ah cautious man! thou nothing hadst to dread,
Among thy Club appear'd no honest head,
No satirist was there thy steps to trace,
Or paint the guilty terrors of thy face.
At length the struggling patriot silence broke,
And every traitor chuckled as he spoke—
“Had it not been for Thomson Mason's care,
We had been tangled in a mighty snare,
This treaty vile would in the dark have lain,
And we to damn it wish'd, but wish'd in vain.
Thus should this mob, whites, negroes, boys and all.
Presumptive tenants of this mighty Hall,
We should, my friends, we fifteen hundred men,
Been forc'd to yield to twice the number ten.
But we have acted well in Faction's cause,
We've shown ourselves superior to the laws,
And if the President could only see,
How well agreed and resolute we be,
Though he already may have set his name,
To Jay's eternal monument of shame,
He'd think it best, to stop the growing rout,
To dash his name across, and dash it out.
To Thomson Mason then, a vote of thanks I move,
A genuine proof of democratic love.”
Thrice strok'd his chops, and thrice survey'd his toes,
Thrice strove his mighty project to declare,
Thrice paus'd to see G******r was there;
For well he knew the satirizing priest,
Would hang him up a scare-crow and a jest,
If once he saw his wayward footsteps stray,
But a small distance in the factious way.
Ah cautious man! thou nothing hadst to dread,
Among thy Club appear'd no honest head,
No satirist was there thy steps to trace,
Or paint the guilty terrors of thy face.
At length the struggling patriot silence broke,
And every traitor chuckled as he spoke—
“Had it not been for Thomson Mason's care,
We had been tangled in a mighty snare,
This treaty vile would in the dark have lain,
And we to damn it wish'd, but wish'd in vain.
Thus should this mob, whites, negroes, boys and all.
Presumptive tenants of this mighty Hall,
We should, my friends, we fifteen hundred men,
Been forc'd to yield to twice the number ten.
But we have acted well in Faction's cause,
We've shown ourselves superior to the laws,
140
How well agreed and resolute we be,
Though he already may have set his name,
To Jay's eternal monument of shame,
He'd think it best, to stop the growing rout,
To dash his name across, and dash it out.
To Thomson Mason then, a vote of thanks I move,
A genuine proof of democratic love.”
O Washington! How stands thy dauntless breast?
Do scenes like these disturb thy nightly rest?
Though mobs assemble, and town-meetings swarm,
And the sky darkens with a gath'ring storm;
Yet shall thy heart so often us'd to share,
Dangers and toils too great for man to bear,
Shrink back appall'd, its fortitude resign,
When pigmies bluster and when knaves combine?
Illustrious Man! thy indignation show,
And frown in terror on thy country's foe!
Then turn thine eye, this mighty realm survey,
See Federal virtue bless thy glorious sway,
See infant states beneath thy plastic hand,
Stretch in vast numbers o'er the boundless land,
The desart blossom, towns and cities rise,
And Peace and Freedom hail their kindred skies;
While all earth's empires, states, and kings behold,
Millennial scenes of happiness unfold.
Do scenes like these disturb thy nightly rest?
Though mobs assemble, and town-meetings swarm,
And the sky darkens with a gath'ring storm;
Yet shall thy heart so often us'd to share,
Dangers and toils too great for man to bear,
Shrink back appall'd, its fortitude resign,
When pigmies bluster and when knaves combine?
Illustrious Man! thy indignation show,
And frown in terror on thy country's foe!
Then turn thine eye, this mighty realm survey,
See Federal virtue bless thy glorious sway,
See infant states beneath thy plastic hand,
Stretch in vast numbers o'er the boundless land,
The desart blossom, towns and cities rise,
And Peace and Freedom hail their kindred skies;
While all earth's empires, states, and kings behold,
Millennial scenes of happiness unfold.
In reference to the circumstance of the Echo having been, at this time, transferred to a different newspaper. The Hedge-Hog, or Porcupine, was its constant device.
It may be proper here to mention, that by this general expression, it is not intended to include the great body of the inhabitants of the town of Boston. The Echo is no stranger to their character, and respects them for their zeal and firmness in support of the government of the country, and for their exertions in quelling the spirit of Jacobinism.
The Doctor said this in a manner that would have done honour to Cicero—says his printer, Mr. Adams. Pray Mr. Adams, who ever told you any thing about Cicero? Why did not you say, which would have done honour to a Joseph Blake, jun. the classical young orator, who seconded the Doctor in putting down Mr. Hall? You might then have appealed for proof to an Oration he spoke a few years ago on the 4th of July, in which, among other things, he says—that this Continent is very happily situated, being “barricaded on one side by vast regions of soil.” Be so good, Mr. Blake, before you decide on the merits of the British Treaty, as to tell us, which side of this Continent it is, that is barricaded by vast regions of soil.
| [Poems by Hopkins in] The Echo | |