University of Virginia Library

SCENE IV.

Portsmouth Point, or Beach.
Enter a Land and Sea Officer meeting.
Sea Off.
Good morrow t'ye, Sir: What news is stirring?

Land Off.
News, my friend? I can tell thee such a piece
Of news, as once to hear it would make a
Gouty sinner leap for joy! a soldier
Leave his wench! a sailor leave his flip! and
All France to tremble!

Sea Off.
Then I'm sure 'tis warlike news:
Some new expedition, some siege, I hope;
For nought like that can make Britannia's sons
Of thunder leaver their wenches and their flip;
And nothing better suited to make the
Monsieurs tremble.

Land Off.
A siege it is:
Our good old King has doom'd Quebec to fail;
Pitt longs to have an ampler vengeance;
And Wolfe is nominated General:
Wolfe! at whose name the French are thunderstruck!
Th' intrepid Monckton is the second, and
The gallant Townshend third in the command:
Their presence, (as the sun gives heat and day
Light) can warm each soldier's heart for battle,
And spur an animated army on
Full speed to glory.

Sea Off.
But who's the Admiral for this design?
I want to thrash their jackets once again.

Land Off.
I hear it is the gallant Saunders, and
Holmes the second in command.

Sea Off.
Just as I wish'd:—I sail with Saunders;
He is a brave commander, and will soon
Give a convincing proof of it, on the
Frenchmen to their cost.—
I think now England has pretty well paid
Herself for the loss of St. Philip's.—

Land Off.
I think so too:—Yet between you and I,
They met no essenc'd Jack-a-Dandys there;
The brave old Blakeney and his worthy few
Of vet'ran troops, and newly landed tars,
Were fierce as lions, and fearless as Job's
War horse.

Sea Off.
There they got a sample of what they might
Expect, and since have had a full measure
Of vengeance pour'd out upon them.

Land Off.
And more shall have, or I'm mistaken.

Sea Off.
With what tumultuous joy, the burning scene
We saw! when sixscore ships, with ware-houses,
And stores were wrapp'd in one fierce British blaze,
Whilst with accustom'd shouts we frighten'd France!
Meanwhile, St. Maloes's thunder, silent as
The grave growl'd not the least defiance, as
If well pleas'd with Marlb'rough's vengeance.

Land Off.
Their troubles, fears, and losses, only then began.

Sea Off.
Right brother Officer! 'twas glorious sport!
Where princely Edward fought on hostile ground;
And where the gallant Howe, and Bligh engag'd;
(And once more bore destruction to proud France:)
To see at Edward's feet, their stubborn ramparts
Kiss the ground! their empty plunder'd royal
Stores, and magazines, in flames! and then to
Crown the scene, to see the subterraneous
Ruin rise, and all disjointed fling their
Cherbourg's costly bason in the air!

Land Off.
These were sights worth seeing!

Sea Off.
Then to sail along their coasts, with Osborne,
Gard'ner, Hawke, and Howe; to take th'Orphee and
The more dreadful Foudroyant! (changing the
Expedition of Du Quesne, to Britain's
Shore, instead of Louisbourg,) driving their
Fleets into neutral harbours locking up
Their ports, and stagnating all their trade! then
To go with Rodney, and overturn all
Their flat bottom'd war! to break their fine spun
Project of invasion, and ramm their schemes
Down their throats wrapp'd up in smoke!

Land Off.
This sport was chiefly on the element,
Where you sailors were the best actors, and
We soldiers had but little hand in it:
But we handled them a little roughly
At Senegal, and many other places
Of the torrid zone; where, with resistless
Fury, Watson, Sayer, Barrington, Marsh,
Mason, Moore, and Draper, with other bold
Commanders, swept all before them, in a
Deluge of repeated victories!

Sea Off.
And amongst the rest, Keppel in a storm
Of thunder, beat Goree to the ground.
And as if the French hadn't had loss and griefs
Enough, how bold Boscawen maul'd De Clue!
Scatt'ring his fleet, and driving some on shore,
Taking, burning, sinking, at his pleasure!
And then it was, the French ocean, by the
Hardy De la Clue commanded, tumbled
On the shore to shun Boscawen's rage, and
Was lick'd up by English flame!

Land Off.
And still to add to England's glory, and
Their shame, to seize upon Cape Breton's Isle.
Oh! hadst thou seen that siege! it wou'd have serv'd
Thee for an age to come, whilst passing round
The flowing cann, to tell thy friends the tale.
Thus wou'dst thou say, invelop'd in a cloud
Of sulph'rous smoke, which broke in thunder from
The British fleet; with British thunderbolts well
Stor'd and thro' a mortal show'r of shot, and
Shells, and leaden deaths, from cannons, mortars,
And French entrenchments sent Amberst, and Wolfe,
Sedately warm'd, and most serenely bold,
(As if their presence victory insur'd,)
With Britain's troops, plung'd into the flood, to
Ravish mighty fate! to bid destruction
Defiance! and outface the grim king of terrors!

Sea Off.
There England's troops and tars were nobly try'd;
And there the Frenchmen learnt, how terrible
We are, when rushing on in dread union,
Thirsting after fame, and eager for the battle.

Land Off.
The disposition for the siege was a
Most glorious toil: each soldier, and each
Sailor, strove t'outdo each other:—
Our cannons, mortars, cohorns, bellow'd loud
Against the place; defiance thundr'd from
The forts of France; that like mount Ætna, and
Vesuvius, in convulsive rage, both parties fought.
Full against the town, and grand fort, Amherst
Bent his fury; whilst Wolfe attack'd, and sunk,
And burnt their ships, o'erturn'd the thunder of
Their island fort, and from the base tore up
Their ramparts! battering the front before
His storm headlong into the sea! and now
'Gainst Dauphin gate, his brazen engines yawn'd,
Pregnant with destruction, Drucour, amaz'd!
For parley call'd, and gave up Louisbourg.

Sea Off.
'Twas high time to give it up; else Hardy,
And Boscawen, wou'd soon have made the place
Too hot for him, and from their double tiers
Have sent him such a surly summons, as
Wou'd have puzzled him, and nonplus'd all his
Troops e'er they could recollect themselves, to
Remit them a reply of equal weight.
But my worthy friend, you forgot, or else
Omitted one great transaction of the
Siege; the ships, the ships, the boats took.

Land Off.
Right: I had forgot indeed:
One night the fleet's boats, under the command
Of the bold Balfour, and Laforey, row'd
Into the harbour of Louisbourg, and
Amidst all the terrors of a gloomy night,
In an unfriendly port, thro' a random
Storm of death, and under cover of their
Garrison, they bravely boarded, and took
Possession of two men of war at once,
A sixty, and a seventy-four gun ship!
They burnt Le Prudent, (which stuck a ground,)
And from the harbour tow'd Le Bienfaisant
Away!

Sea Off.
We generally go through with what we
Take in hand.

Land Off.
A few words more before we part.
I wonder what possess'd the French nation
To kindle up afresh the flames of war,
Or after kindling them, still to carry
On the war, whilst Old England own'd a Pitt;
And for their terror on the land, a Wolfe,
An Amherst, and a Granby, a Johnson,
Williams, Foy, Phillips, Drummond, and Macbean;
A Frazer, Clive, Coote, a Townshend, Elliot,
And a Murray: With such a num'rous list
Besides of worthies, in the triple union
Of England, that when all fam'd Homer's boasted
Warriors are compar'd with them, they seem a
Few, each of them an equal to Hector,
And a rival to fierce Mars.

Sea Off.
And for their scourge at sea, a Hawke, a Howe,
A Saunders, a Pocock, and Boscawen;
A Gilchrist, Clements, Elliot, and Logie;
A Keppel, Rodney, Lockhart, Tyrrel, Forrest;
A Hardy, Holmes, a Langdon, and a Suckling:
With hundreds more, all hardy tars and good
Commanders brave, each of whose names wou'd sound
In a 'Frenchman's ears, like to a clap of
Thunder!
[Going off.]
We've whole fleets mann'd with brave fellows.

[Exit.
Land Off.
[Going off]
Whole reg'ments of heroes!

[Exit.