BUNKER HILL.

Morn breaks. On yon embattled height,
What form stands towering in the air,
Holding an ægis broad and bright

O'er the small band collected there?
And whose that banner o'er her streaming,
In striped and starry blazon gleaming?
And whose that eagle at her side,

With arching neck, and glance of pride?
American! 'tis Freedom's form!

Does not thy life-blood kindle warm?
And thine that standard waving high,
And thine that eagle pluming by.

With blast of trump and roll of drum,
Near and more near the foemen come!
Think, sire! thy helpless children throw
Their arms for succor round thee now!
Think, son! thy age-worn parents feel
Their fireside hopes are on thy steel!
And, most of all, oh, think that ye
Defend a nation's liberty!

Smoke veils the view-but flash on flash,
And roar on roar, and crash on crash,
And groan and shriek, and shout and yell,
The progress of the combat tell.
Fitfully through the lurid haze

Shoots fierce and red the cannon's blaze,
And glance, like sparkles on a stream,
Glitter of sword, and bayonet's gleam.
It lifts-wild scene of rushing files,
And dropping forms, and thickening piles.
But, on yon earthen mounds, behold!
That starry flag is still unrolled;
There side by side the patriots stand,
The bulwark of their native land.
In struggling masses-up the hill,

On the steep glacis, scorch'd and plough'd,
Beneath the tottering ramparts, still
The eager hosts of England crowd.
Twice had they hurled, with warrior might,
On Freedom's ranks the deadly fight,
And twice, upon their corpse-strewn track,
By Freedom's sons been beaten back.
But see! they rally now; the air

-67

Gleams with the bayonets bristling there.

They come! they come! Brave hearts! who stay'd
That serried torrent undismayed,

When fiercer in its flow;

By all the dearest ties of earth-
By all the holiest rights of birth,
Sink not beneath it now.

Once more! once more! ye tried and true,
Bear up, for Freedom strives with you!

Your banner waves before your eye,
Your guardian Eagle hovers nigh.
By every blow a right is freed,
On every effort's glory's meed!
Ha! Warren falls! but waver not-
Pour in your last, your deadliest shot!
Now like a lion, death-beset,

And drenched with blood, unconquer'd yet-
With bristling mane, and rolling eye,
Too weak to rush-too proud to fly,
Scowling more grim, as hasten foes,
Growling more fierce, as thicken blows,
Till, with a roar of deep despair,
He staggers feebly to his lair-
Grasp, grasp again, ye little band,
Each weapon with determined hand!
Though every limb is faint with toil,
And every vein has stained the soil,

With your clench'd muskets, strike once more!
One crushing blow!-'tis o'er-'tis o'er !—

And shouting as they slowly flee,

They leave the humbled king his useless victory.

Ex. XLII.-DECLARATION OF RIGHTS BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.

July 6th, 1775.

WERE it possible for men who exercise their reason, to believe that the Divine Author of our existence intended a part of the human race to hold an absolute property in, and un

DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.

69

bounded power over others,-marked out by his infinite goodness and wisdom as the objects of a legal domination never rightfully resistible, however severe and oppressive,―the inhabitants of these colonies might, at least, require from the Parliament of Great Britain some evidence that this dreadful authority over them has been granted to that body. But a reverence for our great Creator, principles of humanity, and the dictates of common sense, must convince all those who reflect upon the subject, that government was instituted to promote the welfare of mankind, and ought to be administered for the attainment of that end.

The Legislature of Great Britain, however, stimulated by an inordinate passion for power, and despairing of success in any mode of contest where regard should be had to truth, law, or right, have at length deserted them all. They have attempted to effect their cruel and impolitic purpose of enslaving these colonies by violence, and have therefore rendered it necessary for us to close with their last appeal from reason to arms. Yet, however blinded that Assembly may be by their intemperate rage for unlimited domination, so to slight justice and the opinion of mankind, we esteem ourselves, by obligations of respect to the rest of the world, to make known the justice of our cause.

We are reduced to the alternative of choosing an unconditional submission to tyranny, or resistance by force. The latter is our choice. We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery. Honor, justice, and humanity forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity has a right to receive from us.

Our cause is just; our union is perfect; our internal resources are great; and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable.

With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that exerting the utmost energy of those powers which our beneficent Creator has graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, employ for the preservation of our liberties, being of one mind resolved to die freemen, rather than live slaves.

We fight not for glory, or for conquest, we exhibit to mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by unprovoked enemies. They boast of their privileges and

civilization, and yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death.

In our own native land—in defence of the freedom that is our birthright,—for the protection of our property against violence actually offered-we have taken up arms; we shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being resumed shall be removed and not before.

Ex. XLIII.-PARLIAMENTARY LEVITY REPROVED.

Speech in Parliament, October 26, 1775.

EARL OF SHELBURNE.

Ir is with equal astonishment and concern, my lords, that I perceive not the least mention made in the speech which has been this day delivered to us, of a paper, the most important of any that could possibly come under the consideration of this house. I mean the last petition from the general congress in America. How comes it that the colonies are charged with planning independence in the face. of their explicit declaration to the contrary, contained in that petition? Is it the intention, by thus perpetually sounding independence in the ears of the Americans, to lead them to it, or by treating them, upon suspicion, with every possible violence, to compel them into that which must be our ruin? For let visionary writers say what they will, it is a plain and incontestable fact that the commerce of America is the vital stream of this great empire.

My lords, you have heard two of his majesty's ministers acknowledge that they were deceived in their information and have erred in their measures respecting America. There wants only a similar acknowledgment from a certain law lord, who was forward to pledge himself last year for the success of their plans. A little blood, indeed, he owned they might cost, but with that their efficacy was inevitable. The noble lord's political sagacity has for once forsaken him. A great deal of blood has been unhappily shed, to no purpose but to sever us more, if not to put us asunder forever.

But is it possible that your lordships should not have marked, and marked with indignation, the levity, and even

EFFECTS OF THE POLICY OF ENGLAND.

71

ridicule, with which the noble lord at the head of the admiralty has treated this most solemn subject? No man who did not feel himself secure in the promise of impunity from some quarter, would proclaim his mistakes in triumph, and sport with the calamities of his country. The noble lord laughs at all proposals of reconciliation-repeats his imputation of cowardice against the Americans-says the idea of rights is to be driven out of their heads by blows, and ridicules the objections against employing foreigners and papists. I appeal to you, my lords, is it decent thus to stigmatize so great a part of the empire with so base a calumny? Is this a language becoming so great an officer of state ?

The inevitable consequence of persevering in these measures must be such a depreciation of our estates, that opulence will be reduced to competence, and that to indigence. In contemplation of this adversity, I feel it a happiness that I have been bred a soldier; accustomed to the moderation of that life, my fall from opulence will be easy; so may it be with the rest of your lordships! But as you would avoid this, and still greater calamities, let me beseech you to temper and restrain with your wisdom the violence of this fatal address.

Ex. XLIV.-EFFECTS OF THE POLICY OF ENGLAND.

Speech in Parliament, October 26, 1775.

JOHN WILKES.

I SPEAK, Sir, as a firm friend of England and America, but still more to universal liberty and the rights of all mankind. I trust no part of the subjects of this vast empire will ever submit to be slaves. I am sure the Americans are too high-spirited to brook the idea. Your whole power, and that of your allies, if you add any, even of all the German troops, of all the ruffians from the north whom you can hire, can not effect so wicked a purpose. The conduct of the present administration has already wrested the sceptre of America out of the hands of our sovereign, and he has now scarcely even a postmaster left in that whole northern continent. More than half the empire is already lost, and the rest is confusion and anarchy. The ministry have brought our sovereign into a more disgraceful situation than any crowned