Part 3

[10] “The Admiral answered from Boston: ‘The lieutenant, sir, has done his duty.’”—_Idem._, p. 416.

[11] “Your two insolent letters.”—_Lossing’s Pic. Field Book_, vol. ii., ch. 3.

[12] “I would advise you not to send your sheriff on board the king’s ship again on such ridiculous errands.”—_Idem._

[13] “I shall transmit your letter to the Secretary of State.... I will send the sheriff of this colony at any time, and to any place within the body of it, as I shall think fit.”—_Idem._

[14] “On the 9th of June, 1772, Captain Lindsey left Newport for Providence in his packet.”—_Idem._ “Called the Hannah and sailed between New York and Providence.”—_Idem._, _note_.

[15] “As Captain Lindsey, on this occasion, kept his colors flying, the Gaspee gave chase, and continued it as far as Namquit (now Gaspee) Point. The tide was ebbing, but the bar was covered. As soon as Lindsey doubled the Point, he stood to the westward. Duddington, commander of the Gaspee, eager to overtake the pursued, and ignorant of the extent of the submerged point from the shore, kept on a straight course, and in a few minutes struck the sand. The fast-ebbing tide soon left his vessel hopelessly grounded.”—_Idem._

[16] Namquit, according to Lossing; Nauquit, according to Bancroft.

[17] “Lindsey arrived at Providence at sunset, and ... communicated the fact to Mr. John Brown, one of the leading merchants of that city.”—_Lossing’s Pic. Field Book_, v. ii., ch. 3.

[18] “At dusk ... Daniel Pearce passed along the Main Street beating a drum, and informing the inhabitants that the Gaspee lay aground, ... that she could not get off until three o’clock, and inviting,” etc.—_Idem._

[19] Brown “ordered the preparation of eight of the largest long-boats in the harbor, to be placed under the general command of Captain Whipple, one of his most trusty ship-masters,” ... “the row-locks to be muffled, and the whole put in readiness at half-past eight at Fenner’s wharf.”—_Idem._

[20] “The principal actors in this affair were John Brown, Capt. Abraham Whipple, John B. Hopkins, Benjamin Dunn, Dr. John Mawney, Benjamin Page, Joseph Bucklin, Turpin Smith, Ephraim Bowen, and Capt. Joseph Tillinghast.”—_Idem._ “Led by John Brown and Joseph Brown of Providence, and Simeon Potter of Bristol.”—_Bancroft’s U. S._, vol. vi., ch. 47.

[21] “Filled with sixty-four well-armed men, a sea-captain in each boat acting as a steersman.”—_Lossing’s Pict. Field Book of the Rev._, vol. ii., ch. 3.

[22] “They took with them a quantity of wood paving-stone.”—_Idem._

[23] “The boats left Providence between ten and eleven.... Between one and two ... they reached the Gaspee, when a sentinel hailed them.... Duddington appeared, ... and waving the boats off fired a pistol at them. This ... we returned.... Duddington was wounded.”—_Idem._

[24] “The crew retreating below.”—_Idem._

[25] “The schooner’s company were ordered to collect their clothing and leave the vessel.”—_Idem._

[26] “Thomas Bucklin ... fired the musket.”... He afterwards assisted in dressing the wound, supervised by Dr. John Mawney, an American.—_Idem._, note.

[27] “All the effects of ... Duddington being carefully placed in one of the American boats.”—_Idem._

[28] “The _Gaspee_ was set on fire, and at dawn blew up.”—_Idem._

[29] “A reward of five hundred dollars for the discovery of the perpetrator of said villainy.”—_Idem._

[30] “Afterwards, ... a reward of five thousand dollars for the leader and two thousand five hundred ... the other parties.”—_Idem._

[31] “A commission of inquiry under the great seal of England ... sat from the 4th until the 22d of January ... adjourned until ... May ... and sat until the 23d of June. But not a solitary clue to the identity of the perpetrators could be obtained.”—_Idem._

THE LEBANON BOYS IN BOSTON.[1]

The Tea-Party, December 16, 1773.

“New trouble brews in Boston,” Was told us half the year; Yet every week the postman came With something new to fear.

“Our freedom,” so they wrote soon, “Such progress here begets That England seeks to check it[2] With swords and bayonets.

“Their foreign ‘Board of Customs,’[3] Past our laws’ reach, they say, Here pluck from us their living, As vultures from their prey. Ah! would we keep our freedom, We must not basely yield, But claim our rights,[4] as when of old The Stamp Act was repeal’d.”

We read, and thought together That something must be done; And we were those to do it, We boys of Lebanon.

The words of Samuel Adams[4] We heard a neighbor quote: “They silence our Assembly;[5] A sword is at its throat; Our charter is their target, Our judgment-seat their fort,[6] Our men they rob for rations, Our boys they shoot for sport; Our faith that their horizon burst And zenith held not down, Their Toleration Law[7] would force To cringe beneath the crown. I care not what to others A loyal feeling brings; To me it still will loyal be To serve the King of kings.”[8]

We heard, and swore together That work must be begun; And we were those to do it, We boys of Lebanon.

We signed a pledge of “Union.” To all the land we wrote. We went to meet the postman. We read the Boston note:

“In Union only is there strength; And strength is all our stay. Alas that some divide us! Alas that some give way! Once none would touch a thing they tax; To-day the weak agree, And say: ‘Enough if none will taste, If none will trade in tea.’[9] The lords have found our weakness out; And now are talking thus: That India’s losing traders May bring tea free to us.[10] Ay, ay, as if these would not heap Her lap with tribute gold, ‘Let them,’ says England, ‘take the tax; Let them the duties hold.’

“Already bound for Boston, May tea be on the waves, A bait flung out to tempt us To touch, and then be slaves. And if our strong men falter, Nor thrust this bait away, How can the weak be kept from all That makes us England’s prey?

“And yet, if we in Boston To thwart the throne conspire, Our town may prove an altar, Our fortunes melt in fire. The sacrifice is ready; Yet first we wait reply,[11] To know we own a country To save, before we die.”[12]

We met, and swore together, If fighting must be done, In Boston we would do it, We boys of Lebanon.

We started out at midnight, And took the Indian suits, Our fathers’ trophies from the wars Where all had been recruits.

We pack’d them up in knapsacks, And then with each a gun And tomahawk away we walk’d In pairs or one by one. By day we kept the forests; But when the sun was down, We hurried on to Boston, And scatter’d through the town.

We hunted out our cousins. We told them why we came. “Aha,” said they, “we plot the same. We join you in the game.”

They show’d us then, at morning, The “Tree of Liberty,” Where those who plann’d the Stamp Act[13] Had hung in effigy. A pole was now beside it; A flag it bore flew high;[14] The church bells all were ringing; A crowd had gather’d nigh. “To see this tree, the agent Of stamps,” we heard, “resign’d. Here too East India’s agent Should learn the people’s mind: The tea sent here to tax us Untouch’d away shall go; Or all will brand its consignee, Our own, our country’s foe.”[15] The people cheer’d the purpose; From lip to lip it pass’d; The crowd about went homeward; The sky was overcast.

Each agent heard the message; No promise would he sign.[16] Again the town demanded one; Again did each decline.[17] Then Boston’s grand “Committee[18] Of Correspondence,” wrote To ask the farmers, “Would they stand By what the town would vote?”

From every hill and valley Came back, as though one word, What Samuel Adams read with pride Where all the people heard:

“Without a voice dissenting, We swear by you to stand. Our wealth or life preventing, The tea shall never land.”[18]

Then dawn’d the stirring Sunday[19] When swift the news was pass’d, That one tea-ship they waited for, Was in the port at last. Not many went to church then; But all began to pray, With eyes to duty open wide— The Puritanic way.

In haste we met together, Our work must be begun; We plann’d, then, how to do it, We boys of Lebanon. With Proctor[20] for our captain, We vow’d on hand to be, And cling like air and water there About the ship with tea.

The Town-Select-Men waited on The vessel’s consignees; But these were waiting on the fort,[21] Well lock’d with English keys. True courtiers, they would tender The governor there their tea. The governor tried his council; The council[22] said: “Not we; Our homes are with the people; And we are not the ones To hold the cup of serfdom To them, ourselves, or sons.”

The consignees were waiting Until, in forms of law, Their tea was enter’d at the port, When none could it withdraw.[23] So quick the Town-Committee Had made and seal’d a writ, And pledg’d the vessel’s owner’s word Not yet to enter it.[24]

At Faneuil Hall,[25] next morning, While all the bells were rung, Men swarm’d, like bees, to buzz before, Prepar’d to die, they stung. The sheriff[26] came and cried aloud: “You meet unlawfully!” His cry but made them busier buzz, With Saxon loyalty. The consignees were summon’d; “The tea,” they wrote, “we stack.”[27] “The tea shall sail for England,” The people answer’d back.

And then to ports in England, And those at home they wrote: “Tea-taxers here, or traders, Our country’s foes we vote.[28] Think not our men will waver, Our wives their vows abate; The herbs they steep for tea will keep Less bitter than their hate.”

Two tea-ships more were sighted.[29] Our guards, like nerves, were strung[30] From bay to every belfry’s bell, The slightest move had rung.

Then spoke the vessels’ owners: “Our tea is legal prey For fort and fleet, if enter’d not Before the twentieth[31] day.” “Then send it off to sea again,” The Town-Committee said. “Too much you ask,” was answer’d, “For then would blood be shed. The port’s collector warns us We must not clear the port. Without his ‘Writ of Clearance,’ We dare not brook the fort.” They pointed down the harbor: There lay the fleet,[32] alas, Like prongs along the channel, To rake whate’er should pass.

They pointed toward the castle, And all the guns within Bespoke how they would treat a prey That sought the sea to win.

At this our Town-Committee The port’s collector sought;[33] The governor,[33] too, exulting[34] To think his trap had caught. “You mark the fleet and castle; Should trouble brew,” said he; “Your Hancocks, Rowes, and Phillips[34] Might risk as much as we.” But Molineux[35] said only: “They more would risk if slaves; For all they then could wish, would be Enough to give them graves.” “‘If slaves’!” the governor answer’d, And rail’d against their cause; “Aha!—you talk of ‘slaves,’ forsooth, Because your land has laws! And you would dare to break them?— And reason, what of it?— I trust in human nature, When reason should submit.”

“We trust in human nature,” Said Young,[36] who near him stood; “And peace that brooks oppression, It does not deem a good. We trust in human nature; The conscience, ruling there, May guard the right, full well as kings With crowns their dearest care. Love rules in human nature, For, all of history through, The slaves have been the many, The tyrants been the few.”

The governor turn’d in anger: “Well, well, we then shall see. Your hint of flint can wring no ‘Writ Of Clearance’ here from me.”

Then met the town together, Their final vote to take. Not one, of seven thousand[38] there, Desired the peace to break.

Said Quincy:[37] “Crowds and shoutings Can never end our strife. But sadder scenes and sounds await Our loss of wealth and life. The structures fair of freedom Men rear beneath the sky, Press down on deep foundations, Where thousands buried lie. Our course we well may ponder: Hope’s rainbow in the cloud May lure a march beneath its arch To flash and bolt and shroud.” The people paused and ponder’d; But not a single hand,[38] When call’d to vote, but voted, “The tea shall never land.”

And then we met together; If fighting must be done, We knew we now should do it, We boys of Lebanon. In one day more—one only—[39] The fleet and fort would hold The tea that none could longer keep From being bought and sold. Close by we sought our quarters; And from our knapsacks quick We took our Indian guises; And stain’d our cheeks with brick. Anon, we half were ready, With tomahawks in hand[40]; And half, with muskets only,[40] And heard our last command. A moment then we waited; We knew the danger there; We looked above for courage; We bent below in prayer. We swore by God in heaven, To keep our names from all; We swore to stand together, Till all in death should fall; We swore, by truth and honor, Should half essay to flee, To cast that half the harbor in To perish with the tea.[40]

The twilight long had tarried; The darkness deeper grew; In old South Church, the people Still ponder’d what to do.

The dimness veil’d our coming. We listen’d near the door, Till Samuel Adams rose and said,[41] “We here can do no more.” And then we pass’d the word on: “To Griffin’s wharf now!—run!” For we knew where to do the rest, We boys of Lebanon.

Then off flew some as pickets To stand and sound alarms, Should coming spies or soldiers Compel resort to arms. The twilight long had tarried; The darkness deeper grew; “Full time,” said we, “to take our tea!” The people thought so too.

To Griffin’s wharf we led them; We row’d, and reach’d the ships; No captain there, nor sailor, Dared open once his lips. We crowded every gangway; We brought out every chest; We smash’d and dash’d it overboard. The bay did all the rest. No time was there for shouting, No wish was there for strife; Three hours we wrought in silence, And thank’d the Lord for life. Anon, the work was ended; Anon, we back could row; The heaven was black above us; The harbor black below.

None thought on shore to cheer us,[42] Though all had waited there; Their silence match’d the silence, Where souls have flown to prayer. Their silence match’d the silence Of war’s reserves, whose breath Is hush’d to hear the order, That orders all to death. Their silence match’d the silence Of heavens, close and warm, Ere, like a shell incasing hell, They burst and free a storm.

As hush’d as on a Sabbath,[42] The people homeward went; Their eyes alone transparent, To show their souls’ content. But we, we met together, When all our work was done, To toast the dawn of freedom, We boys of Lebanon.

Then, early stirr’d at morning, We left with Paul Revere,[43] Who through the south went riding off To bear, from Boston, cheer. We spread through all the country; We told, how all was done; Till all the shoremen stored away A tomahawk and gun. Throughout the land, no Tory Would brave their sworn attack; East India found no agent; The tea that came went back.

But, better far for freedom,[44] There ran from mouth to mouth, From soul to soul, a tide to roll, And flow from north to south. Beyond the power of local pride Or envy to withstand, It burst each colony’s borders To form one common land.[44] Before men talk’d of Union; But now was Union won, When everywhere each village square Held boys of Lebanon.

FOOTNOTES

[1] In order to indicate the relations existing, at the time of the “Tea-Party,” between Boston and the surrounding towns, as well as to give unity of form to this ballad, the story has been told as given, some years ago, by David Kinnison, one of the survivors of the party, who boarded the tea-ships. He stated that certain young men of Lebanon, Me., united in a secret society—one of many existing at that time—and formed alliances with clubs in Boston and in other places. These young men determined to destroy the tea, and went to Boston for that purpose. Having resolved to stand by each other, to throw overboard those who faltered, and not to reveal each other’s names, twenty-four went on board as Indians, half armed with muskets and bayonets, half with tomahawks and clubs, and all expecting a fight.—See _Lossing’s Pict. Field Bk. of the Rev._, vol. i, p. 499.

[2] In 1770, “September, Hutchinson received the order ... which marks the beginning of a system of ... prevention of American independence.... Boston was made the rendezvous of all ships ... and the fortress ... garrisoned by regular troops.... But the charter of Massachusetts purposely and emphatically reserved to its governor the command of the militia of the colony, and of its forts; the castle had been built and repaired and garrisoned by the colony itself at its own expense; to ... bestow it on the commander-in-chief was a plain violation of the charter, as well as of immemorial usage.”—_Bancroft’s Hist. U. S._, vol. vi., ch. 45, pp. 368, 369.

[3] “Never was a community more distressed or divided by fear and hope than ... Boston. There the ... Board of the Commissioners of the Customs was to be established ... as the lawyers of England ... decided,” in 1767, “that American taxation by Parliament was legal and constitutional, the press of Boston sought support in something more firm than human opinion.... ‘The law of nation,’ said they, ‘is the law of God.’”—_Idem_, ch. 30, pp. 101, 102.

[4] “‘Hancock and most of the party,’ said the governor, ‘are quiet, and all of them, except Adams, abate their virulence.’”—_Idem_, ch. 47, p. 407.

[5] “Bernard ... dissolved the Assembly. Massachusetts was left without a legislature.”—_Idem_, ch. 34, pp. 165. See also “Our First Break with the British,” note 9.

[6] “The officers screened their men from legal punishment, and sometimes even rescued them from the constables.”—_Idem_, ch. 43, p. 334. See also the whole account, in this chapter, of the Boston massacre.

[7] “For New York, the Lords of Trade ... refused to Presbyterians any immunities but such as might be derived from the British Law of Toleration.”—_Idem_, vol. vi., ch. 7, p. 84. See also “Our First Break with the British,” note 12.

[8] “‘It was not reverence for kings,’ he (Adams) would say, ‘that brought the ancestors of New England to America. They fled from kings and bishops, and looked up to the King of kings. We are free, therefore,’ he concluded, ‘and want no kings.’”—_Idem_, ch. 36, pp. 194.

[9] “New York alone had been perfectly true to its engagements ... impatient of a system of voluntary renunciation ... so unequally kept.... Merchants of New York ... consulted those of Philadelphia on agreeing to a general importation of all articles except of tea ... and now trade between America and England was open in every thing but tea.”—_Idem_, ch. 44, pp. 365, 366. “The students at Princeton burnt the New York merchants’ letter.... Boston tore it into pieces” at a full meeting of the trade.—_Idem._

[10] “The continued refusal ... to receive tea ... had brought distress upon the East India Company.... Praying ... to export teas, free of all duties, to America ... Lord North proposed to give to the company itself the right of exporting its teas ... the ministry would not listen to the thought of relieving America from taxation.”—_Idem_, ch. 49, pp. 457, 458.

[11] “Massachusetts ... elected its Committee of Correspondence, fifteen in number. New Hampshire and Connecticut did the same, so that all New England and Virginia ... on the first emergency, ... could convene a congress.”—_Idem_, p. 460.

[12] “‘Brethren,’ they wrote, ‘we are reduced to this dilemma—either to sit down quiet ... or to rise up and resist ... we earnestly request your advice.’”—_Idem_, p. 476.

[13] See “Our First Break with the British,” note 27. Also _Idem_, vol. v., ch. 16, p. 310.

[14] “A large flag was hung out on the pole at Liberty Tree; the bells in the meeting-houses were rung from eleven till noon.”—_Idem_, vol. vi., ch. 50, p. 473.

[15] “Molineux read a paper requiring the consignee to promise not to sell the teas, but to return them.... Then read ... a Resolve passed at Liberty Tree that the consignees who should refuse ... were enemies to their country.”—_Idem_, pp. 473, 474.

[16] “Each and all answered: ‘I cannot comply.’”—_Idem._

[17] “There was once more a legal Town Meeting to entreat the consignees to resign. Upon their repeated refusal, the town passed no vote ... but ... broke up.”—_Idem_, p. 475.

[18] “The Committee of Correspondence ... authorized Samuel Adams to invite ... Dorchester, Rozbury, etc., ... to hold a mass meeting ... the assembly resolved unanimously that ‘the tea should be sent back ... at all events.’”—_Idem_, pp. 477, 478. See also the reply of the towns, p. 483.

[19] “Sunday, the 28th of November,” 1773.—_Idem_, p. 477.

[20] “A party ... under ... Edward Proctor as its captain, was appointed to guard the tea-ship.”—_Idem_, p. 478.

[21] “The select men ... sought in vain for the consignees, who had taken sanctuary in the castle.”—_Idem_, 477.

[22] “On the same day, the council, who had been solicited by the Governor and the consignees to assume the guardianship of the tea, coupled their refusal with a reference ... that the tax upon it ... was unconstitutional.”—_Idem_, p. 478.

[23] “Let the tea be entered, and it would be beyond the power of the consignees to send it back.”—_Idem_, p. 477.

[24] “The Committee of Correspondence ... obtained from the Quaker Rotch, who owned the Dartmouth, a promise not to enter the ship.”—_Idem_, p. 477.

[25] “Faneuil Hall could not contain the people ... on Monday.”—_Idem_, 478.

[26] “The Sheriff ... entered with a Proclamation from the Governor, warning, exhorting, and requiring ... each ... unlawfully assembled forthwith to disperse.... The words were received with hisses, ... and a unanimous vote not to disperse.”—_Idem_, p. 479.

[27] “We now declare to you our readiness to store them.”—_Idem._

[28] “Every ship owner was forbidden, on pain of being deemed an enemy to his country, to import or bring as freight any tea from Great Britain till the unrighteous act taxing it should be repealed, and this vote was printed and sent to every seaport in the province, and to England.”—_Idem_, p. 480.

[29] “Two more tea ships ... arrived.”—_Idem._

[30] “A military watch was regularly kept up ... by night. The tolling of the bells would have been the signal for a general uprising.”—_Idem._

[31] “The ships, ... on the twentieth day from their arrival, would be liable to seizure.”—_Idem._