 | The Fall of Lucifer |  |
THE FALL OF LUCIFER,
AN ELEGIAC POEM ON THE INFAMOUS DEFECTION OF THE LATE GENERAL ARNOLD.
Auri sacra fames?
Vincit amor patriæ.
VIRGIL.
The PREFACE.
The Author of the following Poem, being unacquainted with his real character, once had the highest esteem for the late General Arnold, and therefore it need not be thought strange, that the glaring, though deceitful figure he formerly made in the service of the UNITED STATES, as well as the high rank he held in the AMERICAN line, should suggest those grand allusions to angels; heavenly bodies and some of the heroes of antiquity, with other handsome things said of him in the former part of the Poem: Yet some readers may suppose, as has been hinted, that these, by placing that infamous apostate in a respectable light, do him too much honor; but the devil himself ought to have his due, and it must be confessed, that; though Arnold, as a citizen, has eventually proved an execrable villian, his behaviour, as a soldier, has indeed been heroical: and that, though he probably possessed no other considerable intrinsic greatness of character, yet, while the glorious cause of LIBERTY added such a lustre to them, the rank and honors he sustained must needs give at least an adventitious dignity even to a scoundrel. Besides, in order to represent the GREATNESS of his FALL, which was the poet's design, it is obvious, it was necessary to contrast what he now is with what he once, whether really or apparently, was; as it is impossible to conceive what darkness and deformity mean, without having seen light and beauty, or to obtain adequate ideas of the character of a fiend, without first contemplating that of an angel.
From a remark made by a judicious Friend, who, however has an high esteem for those virtuous young men who captured Major Andre; the author apprehends some of his readers will think he has celebrated them in a stile of encomium too high for their condition in life, and somewhat derogatory to the honor of those eminent worthies, who afterwards exerted themselves with so much virtuous dignity on that occasion; especially as their meritorious conduct is passed over
This Poem was composed in the month of October, and finished by the first of November; but its publication has been hitherto retarded by a variety of unfortunate circumstances: However, as so black a treason, and so critical a providential DELIVERANCE ought never to be forgotten; the Author hopes its appearance, late as it is, will not be thought altogether unseasonable.
After all, the Author thinks it necessary to apologize for the vehicle in which he offers his Poem to the public. Necessity is his plea, and he hopes his readers will not despise it, merely because it is obliged to appear in the world in a mean dress, as well as its
Sudden desert its orbit in the skies,
And headlong rushing from its lofty sphere,
Plunge deep in darkness, never more to rise;
At an event so horrible and new,
(While gazing worlds would wonder and repine)
Arnold, we should a double emblem view
Of Lucifer's apostacy and thine.
So fell that Seraph (who once glorious shone
In Heav'n's gay Zodiac a bright morning-star)
And, from an angel to a devil grown,
With kindred spirits wag'd unnat'ral war;
So didst thou fall;—amid the loud applause
Of shouting states, in martial glory gay,
Thou meanly didst desert thy country's cause,
And basely strive her interests to betray:
Like him (a traitor ere the birth of time)
From inbred vice to base rebellion prone,
Untempted, uninvited, of thy crime
The guilt and infamy is all thy own.
It is said that in the late horrid conspiracy, Arnold made the first overtures; and indeed as much seems pretty fairly deducible from his Address to the Inhabitants of America, as well as other papers published under his signature. See also a long and elegant letter from camp to a gentleman in Philadelphia, in many of the News-papers.
Th' infernal end thy treason had in view,
Thy wiles might like a Comet's fiery train,
Have drawn destruction on thy country too.
Alluding to the opinion of some philosophers, who have supposed, that Comets were destructive in their influence, and that some one of them will finally destroy this earth.
The watchful eye of providence divine,
That look'd confusion in the days of yore
On Satan's plot, has disconcerted thine:
Thus thou hast earn'd by thy abortive scheme,
Treasures of weighty guilt instead of gold,
And disappointed, for a gilded dream
Thy fame, thine honor and thy conscience sold.
Unhappy Arnold! what a fall was thine!
What perseverance, diligence and zeal
Did once conspicuous in thy conduct shine,
And seem'd exerted for the public weal!
Quebec, Champlain and Saratoga boast
The vivid glow of thy heroic fires;
But Alpine mountains and Canadian frost
Witness what most th' astonish'd world admires;
Not Alexander midst conflicting storms,
Nor Hannibal in all his rugged way,
Encounter'd hardship in more dreadful forms,
With firmer patience or with less dismay:
Midst such a group of glories needless 'twere
Of Mohock's stream or Danbury to tell,
Where perish'd gallant HARKEMER, and where
The good, old, long-prov'd, faithful WOOSTER fell.
Five years hadst thou thy course of glory run,
A course of glory in a glorious cause!
And, by thy deeds of martial prowess done,
Obtaind'd thy country's and the world's applause;
Oh the dire curse of gold's bewitching pow'r
Thy foul revolt has blacken'd all thy life,
And blasted all thy laurels in an hour.
Sad! That a soldier of distinguish'd rate,
Who in the martial line conspicuous stood,
In feats of valour eminently great,
Should not have prov'd as eminently good!
Sad! That an actor, who had nobly play'd
A brilliant part, should, ere he left the stage,
In the catastrophe himself degrade,
And issue hiss'd, the scandal of the age!
False Arnold, thou indeed hast play'd a part,
But now thy real character we scan;
In human life a prodigy thou art,
Thou art a monster in the shape of man:
Whoe'er thy genuine picture would display,
With motley strokes must in the pourtrait blend:
The colours of an angel heav'nly gay
With all th' infernal features of a fiend:
But thou dost all in bold design excel,
None other sure can with thy pencil vie;
Since thou, with all the impudence of hell,
Wouldst varnish treason of the deepest dye.
Yet full as well the meanest dauber might
Pourtray thy frowning master debonair,
Draw the black raven like the swan in white,
Or paint a devil as an angel fair.
Degen'rate shall I call thee, Arnold? No;
Thou ever hast been, and art still the same;
Thy public life was but a specious show,
A cloke to secret wickedness and shame.
Alluding to his effrontery in attempting a vindication of his base conduct, and his impudently laying claim to the character of a patriot. See his first letter to Gen. Washington, and the address before mentioned.
Tho' thy exploits with signal lustre shine,
Though great thy zeal and prowess in the field;
For never virtuous principle was thine.
Hence thou hast lurk'd beneath the fair disguise
Of freedom's champion, mammon's sordid slave;
Hence now thou stand'st confest before our eyes,
A scoundrel hero and a gallant knave.
Yet hadst thou stedfast in the conflict stood,
Still persever'd in the same glorious stile,
Thou still hadst shar'd th' applauses of the good;
And ev'n the veneration of the vile;
Or had thy wicked machinations sped,
Since prosp'rous villians oft atchieve renown,
Such might have seen thee rear aloft thy head,
With impudence as decent as their own;
But disappointed in thy base design,
At once the jest of honest men and knaves,
A cypher now thou standst in glory's line,
Abhor'd by freemen and despis'd by slaves.
Nor hope thy new confederates will be
By boasts of conscious rectitude amus'd;
Since in thy treacherous revolt they see,
Thou hast thy country's confidence abus'd:
And soon, poor wretch! experience to thy cost,
Should their suspicions kindle into rage,
And curse a traitor for an hero lost:
Shall thy distinguish'd but dishonor'd name,
By all detested, in th' historic page,
Wear the foul blot of everlasting shame.
Deplor'd at once the virtuous and the brave,
And North, that fly arch-villain, strange to tell,
Ev'n his own suffrage to his merit gave .
Had then been known, as now it is, to all,
Thy country with her foes had borne a part,
And welcom'd with glad shouts thy timely fall.
MONTGOMERY! O thou venerable shade!
Forgive the muse that thus presumes to join,
Since he has from the path of honor stray'd,
The name of that inglorious wretch with thine:
Erst join'd in the same arduous enterprize,
Ye fought together, brav'd each adverse bar
Of proud Quebec, and, to the world's surprize,
Urg'd on her ramparts the too daring war.
Pure were thy motives; patriotic zeal,
And sacred liberty's endearing charms;
High beat thy pulses for the public weal,
And heav'n-sprung ardor fir'd thy soul to arms.
HIM furious, not from conscious virtue bold,
Did no such noble principles excite;
But the mean lusts of glory, pow'r and gold,
Three demon's, stung him to th' advent'rous fight.
Yet didst thou fall; ah! thou, whose steady feet
Ne'er from the road of virtuous honor swerv'd;
While he escap'd, and, a perfidious cheat,
Still lives, a scandal to the cause he serv'd.
Thou the sad victim wast;—Oh! mighst thou live,
Yet live once more; if heaven's supreme decree
Could be revok'd,—of Arnolds we would give,
With utmost joy, whole hecatombs for THEE.
But fate forbids; yet shall thy spotless fame,
By his contrasted, with fresh lustre shine,
His fairest actions prove a foil to thine.
Then, while the wretch survives his own renown,
Sleep, virtuous hero, in thy glorious bed;
Immortal honors shall thy temples crown,
And glory beam forever round thy head.
He, vile dissembler! who, with artful brow,
Once ap'd thy virtues, but possess'd them not,
As he in vice lives ignominious now,
Shall die detested, and his name shall rot;
But thee shall this and ev'ry age revere,
Unfading laurels flourish round thy tomb,
And thy blest mem'ry to thy country dear,
Through years unnumber'd shed a sweet perfume.
Great in his life and its illustrious close,
We mourn MONTGOMERY's too contracted span,
Each patriot-heart bleeds with regret to lose
So brave a soldier and so good a man.
Thee we regret not, Arnold, quit of thee,
(Thou viper in thy country's bosom bred)
We shout for joy, and only wish to see
Her heaviest vengeance lighting on thy head.
Go then, thou traitor, to thy brothers go,
Thy villain brothers of the British line,
Ingloriously commence thy country's foe,
And serve a tyrant in his base design:
There never know the bliss of being free,
There live in abject slavery forlorn,
And, as the good man's detestation, be
Thy own confusion and the rascal's scorn.
Go BULLY Arnold, for we need thee not,
Nor danger from thy swelling words presage,
Chang'd is thy disposition with thy lot,
Quench'd is thy fire and impotent thy rage.
(For most absurdly has thy folly rav'd)
In a just cause thou once couldst greatly dare,
Though false thy motives as thy soul deprav'd;
He has as it is said, been lavish of boisterous threatnings against the cause he has infamously deserted.
Must palpitate, with guilty terrors throng'd;
Nor dar'st thou, conscious of thy just desert,
Invade those States thy perfidy has wrong'd:
Of thy past valour therefore boast no more,
Nor longer elevate thine haughty brow;
Spite of the heights to which thy pride may soar,
I dare pronounce thee a vile dastard now.
Mean, coward wretch! to burthen the opprest,
The patient subjects of tyrannic sway,
With double woes to torture the distrest,
And rend fell rapine's unresisting prey!
Curse on thy malice! what a fiend thou art!
A fiend incarnate, of the worst degree,
To spit th' infernal venom of thy heart
At honest men, who never injur'd thee .
This and the preceding stanza were suggested by his spitefully procuring the arrest of a number of the peaceable inhabitants of the city of New-York.
Go and assistant to thy tyrant be;
For he, the butcher of the human race,
In guilt of murder scarce can equal thee.
Go cruel Arnold, with the wicked train
Of smaller murd'rers that have gone before;
Go vagabond, like thy example CAIN,
And wander fugitive from shore to shore;
But carry with thee too his heavy curse,
And like a vulture, with its horrid fangs,
Fast clinging to thy bosom, may remorse
Strike through thy heart unsufferable pangs;
For a mean price his heav'nly master sold;
Thou, Arnold, hast a like wild bargain made,
And sold thy country too for paltry gold:
Spontaneous both in a nefarious plot,
Both votaries at mammon's sordid shrine,
The wages of iniquity ye sought,
Base Jews his chapmen and base Britons thine.
Though his a crime was infinitely high,
Since his and thine one common title claim,
Methinks I hear impartial justice cry,
“Alike their nature, be their fate the same!
“Midst all thy heart-felt anguish mayst thou hear
“From thine accomplices a like reply,
“And, in thy pangs insulted with a sneer,
“Run mad, despairing, hang thyself and die!”
Though his LORD's dignity his crime increas'd,
And his guilt render'd infinite, yet be,
In abject baseness of the heart at least,
And sordid av'rice, yields the palm to thee.
Some readers will perhaps suppose, that it savors somewhat of profanity, to consider Judas, in any respect whatsoever, in a less scandalous light than Arnold; but, as his necessities probably added force to the temptation, and as he evidently degraded himself less below his visible rank in life, in these points of view it is hoped, the comparison, as made, may be thought excusable. Mackight in his Harmony (if I mistake not) considers Judas in a light still more favorable, viz. As betraying his master, in order to force him to a declaration of himself, as a secular King of the Jews.
A necessary competence refus'd,
He ne'er obtain'd his Lord's peculiar grace,
And ne'er was pardon'd for that grace abus'd.
Alluding to Arnold's restoration to his rank and command in the army, after at least strong presumptive evidence of peculation, criminal intercourse with the enemy, &c. which have lately been realized.
Richly replenish'd with her plunder'd store,
Could'st basely violate each sacred tie,
T' indulge thy vile insatiate thirst for more:
Thy plunder'd treasures soon must thou restore,
Spite of thy fondness for an angel wife,
And for thine honor (since thou canst no more)
Soon mayst thou pay the forfeit of thy life.
One day will put thee in thy country's pow'r,
Then shalt thou stand at her impartial bar,
And curse th' occasion in that dreadful hour.
Unbaffled justice shall thy pride controul,
No more shall boasted virtue reason brave;
But self-convicted, through thy inmost soul
Then shalt thou feel what 'tis to be a KNAVE.
Soon awful vengeance shall demand its right,
And bid the halter stop thy guilty breath,
Approving virtue greet the welcome sight,
And vice stand shudd'ring at a villian's death.
Then shall thy corse to the tall gibbet hurl'd,
In chains of guilt, for many years to come,
Hang a dire spectacle to all the world
Of giant-crime and an arch-traitor's doom.
But if thou canst, drag on thy wretched life,
Live and behold thy injur'd country free;
At length victorious in the arduous strife,
In spite of hell, of Britain and of thee;
Self-banish'd exile, indigent and vile,
See her gay scenes of future bliss unfold;
See teem her flocks and herds, her harvests smile,
And upright commerce waft thine idol, GOLD.
It is perhaps generally known, that Arnold was formerly in the mercantile way; but those who were best acquainted with his conduct in the commercial line, never gave him the character of a very fair dealer.
The promis'd land thy folly did forego,
Then, stung with envy at the galling sight,
Curse thy own fate in agonies of woe:
Out-cast from bliss, so Satan erst beheld
From the deep pit of hell the heav'nly plains,
With malice burn'd, with ranc'rous envy swell'd,
Rav'd and indur'd unutterable pains.
Good God! what various modes our foes employ
Of force and craft, of violence and guile,
The fabric of our freedom to destroy,
And dispossess us of our native soil!
Pest, hunger, thirst, cold, bruises, dungeons, chains,
Rape, insult, ravage, plunder, sword and fire,
Form a dire system of compulsive pains,
Which in their plan of cruelty conspire.
Infectious diseases, and particularly the small-pox, to which they have inhumanly exposed their prisoners, and which they have endeavoured to propagate among the inhabitants of these States.
Tempt Negro slaves, once dutiful and good,
Against their gentle masters to rebel,
And brethren teach to shed a brother's blood;
They from the distant wilderness excite
The savage Indian, since more savage grown,
To execute the dictates of their spite,
With fury equall'd only by their own.
Anon the scene is chang'd, and artful wiles
Succeed; mild offers somewhat seem t' insure;
With placid mein dissimulation smiles,
And Syren brib'ry waves her golden lure;
The gentle proclamation's specious page,
Invites the rebel to return and live,
And flatt'ring soothing promises engage
More than the herald ever means to give.
Paint terrible as good the best of kings,
Display the pow'r of his resistless hosts,
And blust'ring threats denounce tremendous things.
Falshood mean while invents a thousand lies,
Affected scorn the rebel cause derides,
And haughty ridicule with leering eyes,
Smiles, sneers and flouts and shakes her titt'ring sides:
Small danger hence; but serious ills invade,
When sneaking forg'ry plays her subtle game,
And British baubles tempt a lawless trade,
The foes glad triumph and our country's shame:
The pernicious and scandalous traffic clandestinely carried on by some with our enemies at New-York and Long-Island.
By Midianitish harlots and their toys,
With their malicious foes triumphant smil'd,
Blush'd and paid dear for their forbidden joys.
But the dire master-piece of all their art,
Their most abhor'd expedient, which remains
With suffocating horrors chills my heart,
And the warm life-blood curdles in my veins.
Their league with Arnold! What an hellish plan,
Big with destruction as replete with guile;
Sure none but Judas of the race of man
E'er form'd a plot more dreadful or more vile.
Curst combination, by one stroke to mar
The two grand pillars of th' assaulted States,
Th' important Atlas of the righteous war,
And the Gibraltar of our northern Streights!
That might the black conspiracy ensue,
I shrink, I shudder at the horrid view;
Scarce greater terror could my breast invade,
Though o'er a nitrous magazine I stood;
Though the match glow'd, the fatal train were laid,
And the dire mine just ready to explode.
No more be mentioned any dark design
Or base transaction of the days of yore;
Let sleep in silence Roman Cataline,
Ye Briton's talk of POWDER PLOTS no more.
Twice have our foes, by hellish malice fir'd,
In the sad course of this unnat'ral strife,
With our corrupted citizens conspir'd
Against our great commander's precious life;
But heaven preserves the hero; still he lives,
Pattern of all that human nature boasts;
Still lives, we trust, to scourge a gang of thieves
And rebel tories from our plunder'd coasts:
Great WASHINGTON still lives, by his command
Still guides our armies, and still hopes to see
His military ward, his native land,
From war, from tyranny and treason free;
And glad WEST-POINT, by the infernal scheme
Of late indanger'd, safe from war's alarms,
Still sits secure on ancient Hudson's stream,
And bids defiance to proud Britain's arms.
GOD is the guardian of this injur'd land,
Against malignant foes our GREAT ALLY;
Oft has their force been vanquish'd by his hand,
Their wiles confounded by his watchful eye;
Then let his late peculiar mercies fire
Each conscious heart with gratitude sincere,
Each breast with humble confidence inspire
Of more consummate favours in arrear:
In these glad earnests of sublimer things,
A pledge of full deliverance we see;
It is our country must and will be free.
Nor must those gen'rous youths, of noble mind,
Triumvirate illustrious be forgot,
Whose signal virtue heav'n ordain'd to find
The clew t' unravel the mysterious plot:
Paulding, Vanwert and Williams, glorious three!
Unlike the selfish mercenary tribe,
Your steady souls, from vicious influence free,
Could brave temptation, and disdain a bribe.
No sordid views your hearts, like Arnold's, fir'd
To leap the bounds prescrib'd by reason's laws;
But patriot love your honest hearts inspir'd
With zeal and firmness in your country's cause.
For its protection and kind guardian care
To HEAVEN while our devotest praise is due,
Heav'n, whose thrice-honour'd instruments ye were,
Demands some noble recompence for you.
Rever'd, for your disinterested deed,
As saviour's of your country, ye shall live,
And from her bounty share each decent meed,
A rescu'd people's gratitude can give.
Virtue like your's extensive glory claims;
Virtue unblemish'd in the midst of crimes!
Fame through the world shall celebrate your names,
And late transmit them to succeeding times.
Wherever Arnold's name is heard or known
Hear'd to be curs'd or known to be abhor'd,
Yours shall be publish'd with sublime renown,
Transcending that which conquer'd worlds afford
These persecuted States, by grace divine
Upheld, ere long from this sad vale of tears
Shall rise triumphant, and exalted shine
Thro' a long series of revolving years.
While haughty tyrants from their thrones are hurl'd,
And to the utmost date of time endure,
Not mistress but the GLORY of the world.
As though on monumental brass engrav'd,
And the glad hist'ry of your worth extend
Coeval with the STATES your virtue sav'd.
The joyful tale posterity shall tell,
And count the merits of your conduct o'er;
While bravest feats of heroes that rebel
Shall be forgotten, or be told no more.
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