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diff --git a/29224-8.txt b/29224-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..224f716 --- /dev/null +++ b/29224-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1243 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Group, by Mercy Warren + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Group + A Farce + +Author: Mercy Warren + +Editor: Montrose J. Moses + +Release Date: June 26, 2009 [EBook #29224] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GROUP *** + + + + +Produced by David Starner, Brownfox and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +TRANSCRIBERS' NOTES + +This e-book contains the text of _The Group_, extracted from +Representative Plays by American Dramatists: Vol 1, 1765-1819. Comments +and background to all the plays and the other plays are available at +Project Gutenberg. + +Spelling as in the original has been preserved. + + + + +THE GROUP + +_By_ MRS. MERCY WARREN + +[Illustration: MRS. MERCY WARREN] + + + + +MRS. MERCY WARREN + +(1728-1814) + + +Most of the literature--orations as well as broadsides--created in +America under the heat of the Revolution, was of a strictly satirical +character. Most of the Revolutionary ballads sung at the time were +bitter with hatred against the Loyalist. When the conflict actually +was in progress, the theatres that regaled the Colonists were closed, +and an order from the Continental Congress declared that theatre-going +was an amusement from which all patriotic people should abstain. These +orders or resolutions were dated October 12, 1778, and October 16. +(Seilhamer, ii, 51.) The playhouses were no sooner closed, +however--much to the regret of Washington--than their doors were +thrown wide open by the British troops stationed in Boston, New York, +and Philadelphia. A complete history of the American stage has to deal +with Howe's players, Clinton's players, and Burgoyne's players. + +Of all these Red-Coat Thespians, two demand our attention--one, Major +André, a gay, talented actor; the other, General Burgoyne, whose pride +was as much concerned with playwriting as with generalship. The latter +dipped his pen in the satirical inkpot, and wrote a farce, "The +Blockade of Boston." It was this play that drew forth from a woman, an +American playwright, the retort stinging. This lady was Mrs. Mercy +Warren[1] who, although distinguished for being a sister of James +Otis, and the wife of General James Warren, was in her own name a most +important and distinct literary figure during the Revolution. + +So few women appear in the early history of American Drama that it is +well here to mention Mrs. Charlotte Ramsay Lennox (1720-1804) and Mrs. +Susanna Rowson (1762-1824). The former has the reputation of being the +first woman, born in America, to have written a play, "The Sister" +(1769). The author moved to London when she was fifteen, and there it +was her piece was produced, with an epilogue by Oliver Goldsmith. She +is referred to in Boswell's Life of Johnson. + +Of Susanna Rowson, whose Memoir has been issued by Rev. Elias Nason, +we know that, as a singer and actress, she created sufficient +reputation in London to attract the attention of Wignell, the +comedian. (Clapp. Boston Stage. 1853, p. 41.) + +With her husband, she came to this country in 1793, and, apart from +her professional duties on the stage, wrote a farce, "Volunteers" +(1795), dealing with the Whiskey Insurrection in Pennsylvania, "The +Female Patriot" (1794), "Slaves in Algiers; or, A Struggle for +Freedom" (1794), and "Americans in England" (1796). All of these were +produced. Her literary attainments were wide, her most popular novel +being "Charlotte Temple, a Tale of Truth" (1790). She likewise +compiled many educational works. (See Wegelin.) + +The picture conjured up in our mind of Mrs. Warren is farthest away +from satire. To judge by the costume she wore when she sat to Copley +for her portrait, she must have been graced with all the feminine +wiles of the period. Behold Mrs. Mercy Warren, satirist, as the +records describe her: + + Her head-dress is of white lace, trimmed with white satin + ribbons. Her robe is of dark-green satin, with a pompadour + waist, trimmed with point lace. There is a full plait at the + back, hanging from the shoulders, and her sleeves are also of + point lace. White illusion, trimmed with point lace, and + fastened with a white satin bow, covers her neck. The front of + the skirt and of the sleeves are elaborately trimmed with + puffings of satin. + +But however agreeable this picture may be, Mrs. Warren, on reading +Burgoyne's farce, immediately sharpened her pen, and replied by +writing a counter-farce, which she called "The Blockheads; or, the +Affrighted Officers."[2] It was in the prologue to this play that the +poet-dramatist wrote: + + Your pardon first I crave for this intrusion. + The topic's such it looks like a delusion; + And next your candour, for I swear and vow, + Such an attempt I never made till now. + But constant laughing at the Desp'rate fate, + The bastard sons of Mars endur'd of late, + Induc'd me thus to minute down the notion, + Which put my risibles in such commotion. + By yankees frighted too! oh, dire to say! + Why yankees sure at red-coats faint away! + Oh, yes--They thought so too--for lack-a-day, + Their gen'ral turned the _blockade_ to a play: + Poor vain poltroons--with justice we'll retort, + And call them _blockheads_ for their idle sport. + +Unfortunately, we cannot test the comparative value of satire as used +by Burgoyne and Mrs. Warren, because the Burgoyne play is not in +existence. But, undoubtedly, our Revolutionary enthusiast knew how to +wield her pen in anger, and she reflects all of the bitter spirit of +the time. Not only is this apparent in "The Blockheads," but likewise +in "The Group," a piece which holds up to ridicule a number of people +well known to the Boston of that day. + +Mrs. Warren was the writer of many plays, as well as being noted for +her "History of the American Revolution" (1805), and for her slim +volume of poems (1790), which follow the conventional sentiments of +the conventionally sentimental English poetry of that time. + +In "The Group" we obtain her interesting impressions, in dramatic +form, of North and Gage and, from the standpoint of the library, we +regard with reverence the little copy of the play printed on the day +before the battle of Lexington--a slim brochure, aimed effectively at +Tory politicians.[3] + +In fact, mention the name Tory to Mrs. Warren, and her wit was ever +ready to sharpen its shafts against British life in America. That is +probably why so many believe she wrote "The Motley Assembly," a farce, +though some there be who claim that its authorship belongs to J. M. +Sewall. Dr. F. W. Atkinson asserts that this was the first American +play to have in it only American characters.[4] + +The satirical farce was a popular dramatic form of the time. Mrs. +Warren was particularly effective in wielding such a polemic note, for +instance, when she deals with the Boston Massacre in her Tragedy, "The +Adulateur" (Boston: Printed and sold at the New Printing-Office, +/Near Concert-Hall./ M,DCC,LXXIII./). On the King's side, however, the +writers were just as effective. Such an example is seen in "The Battle +of Brooklyn, A farce of Two Acts: as it was performed at Long-Island, +on Tuesday, the 27th of August, 1776, By the Representatives of the +Tyrants of America, Assembled at Philadelphia" (Edinburgh: Printed in +the Year M.DCC.LXXVII.), in which the British ridicule all that is +Continental, even Washington. This farce was reprinted in Brooklyn, +1873. + +Jonathan Mitchell Sewall's (1748-1808) "A Cure for the Spleen; or, +Amusement for a Winter's Evening" (1775) was another Tory protest, +which carried the following pretentious subtitle: "Being the substance +of a conversation on the Times, over a friendly tankard and pipe, +between Sharp, a country Parson; Bumper, a country Justice; Fillpot, +an inn-keeper; Graveairs, a Deacon; Trim, a Barber; Brim, a Quaker; +Puff, a late Representative. Taken in short-hand by Roger de Coverly." + +Mrs. Warren was the intimate friend of many interesting people. It +concerns us, however, that her most significant correspondence of a +literary nature was carried on with John Adams, afterwards President +of the United States. This friendship remained unbroken until such +time as Mrs. Warren found it necessary to picture Adams in her History +of the Revolution; when he objected to the portraiture. + +The student of history is beholden to Mr. Adams for many of those +intimate little sketches of Revolutionary and early national life in +America, without which our impressions would be much the poorer. His +admiration for Mrs. Warren was great, and even in his correspondence +with her husband, James Warren, he never allowed an opportunity to +slip for alluding to her work as a literary force in the life of the +time. I note, for example, a letter he wrote on December 22, 1773, +suggesting a theme which would "become" Mrs. Warren's pen, "which has +no equal that I know of in this country." + +In 1775, after "The Group" was written, and, according to custom, +submitted by Warren to John Adams for criticism and approval, we find +him praising Mrs. Warren, and quoting from her play. So poignantly +incisive was Mrs. Warren's satire that many people would not credit +her with the pieces she actually wrote, and there were those who +thought it incredible that a woman should use satire so openly and so +flagrantly as she. The consequence is, many of her contemporaries +attributed the writing of "The Group" to masculine hands, and this +attitude drew from Mrs. Warren the following letter written to Mr. +Adams: + + My next question, sir, you may deem impertinent. Do you remember + who was the author of a little pamphlet entitled, _The Group?_ + To your hand it was committed by the writer. You brought it + forward to the public eye. I will therefore give you my reason + for naming it now. A friend of mine, who lately visited the + Athenĉum [a Boston Library], saw it among a bundle of pamphlets, + with a high encomium of the author, who, he asserted, was Mr. + Samuel Barrett. You can, if you please, give a written testimony + contradictory of the false assertion. + +This letter was written long after the Revolution, when she was not +loath to let it be known that she was the creator of this little play, +and is clearly indicative of the general attitude the public had +toward Mrs. Warren as an author. Her appeal instantly called forth a +courteous rejoinder from Mr. Adams, who wrote: + + What brain could ever have conceived or suspected Samuel + Barrett, Esquire, to have been the author of "The Group"? The + bishop has neither the natural genius nor the acquired talents, + the knowledge of characters, nor the political principles, + sentiments, or feelings, that could have dictated that pungent + drama. His worthy brother, the Major, might have been as + rationally suspected. + + I could take my Bible oath to two propositions, 1st. That Bishop + Barrett, in my opinion, was one of the last literary characters + in the world who ought to have been suspected to have written + "The Group." 2d. That there was but one person in the world, + male or female, who could at that time, in my opinion, have + written it; and that person was Madam Mercy Warren, the + historical, philosophical, poetical, and satirical consort of + the then Colonel, since General, James Warren of Plymouth, + sister of the great, but forgotten, James Otis. + +According to Adams, he immediately went to the Boston Athenĉum, where +his nephew, W. S. Shaw, was Librarian. He drew from the shelves a copy +of "The Group", which had been bought from the collection of Governor +Adams of Massachusetts, and forthwith, on looking it over, wrote down +the original names of the people satirized therein.[5] This copy is +still a valuable possession of the library. + +While Mrs. Warren was writing "The Group," she sent it piecemeal to +her husband, who was on the field of battle. He, being proud of the +literary attainments of his wife, sent it around to his friends, under +seal of secrecy. And his appeal to these friends was very significant +of the pride he felt in the manuscript. Here is what he wrote to +Adams, on January 15, 1775: + + Inclosed are for your amusement two Acts of a dramatic + performance composed at my particular desire. They go to you as + they came out of the hand of the Copier, without pointing or + marking. If you think it worth while to make any other use of + them than a reading, you will prepare them in that way & give + them such other Corrections & Amendments as your good Judgment + shall suggest. + +It gradually became known among Warren's friends who the real writer +of the satire was, much to the consternation of Mrs. Mercy Warren. She +was modest to the extreme, usually being thrust into writing on +particular subjects by the enthusiasm of her friends. For example, she +wrote a poem on the Boston Tea Party, and, in sending it to her +husband, she confessed that it was a task + + done in consequence of the request of a much respected friend. + It was wrote off with little attention.... I do not think it has + sufficient merit for the public eye. + +By the same post, she sent him another scene from "The Group." + + Whatever you do with either of them [meaning the manuscripts], + you will doubtless be careful that the author is not exposed, + and hope your particular friends will be convinced of the + propriety of not naming her at present. + +Mrs. Warren was the author of several other plays, among them "The +Adulateur" and "The Retreat," which preceded "The Group" in date of +composition, and "The Sack of Rome." The latter was contained in a +volume of poems issued in 1790, in which "The Ladies of Castile" was +dedicated to President Washington, who wrote the author a courteous +note in acknowledgment. + +In the preface to this volume, Mrs. Warren gives her impressions of +the stage, which are excellent measure of the regard Americans of this +period had for the moral influence of the playhouse. Thus, she writes: + + Theatrical amusements may, sometimes, have been prostituted to + the purposes of vice; yet, in an age of taste and refinement, + lessons of morality, and the consequences of deviation, may, + perhaps, be as successfully enforced from the stage, as by modes + of instruction, less censured by the severe; while, at the same + time, the exhibition of great historical events, opens a field + of contemplation to the reflecting and philosophic mind. + +But Mrs. Warren was not entirely given over to the serious occupations +of literary work. We find her on intimate terms with Mrs. Adams, the +two of them in their daily association calling each other _Portia_ and +_Marcia_. + +Who actually played in "The Group" when it was given a performance is +not recorded. We know, however, from records, that it was given for the +delectation of the audiences assembled "nigh head quarters, at Amboyne." +This evidence is on the strength of Mrs. Warren's own statement. +Sanction for the statement appears on the title-pages of the New York, +John Anderson, issue of 1775,[6] and the Jamaica-Philadelphia, James +Humphreys, Jr., edition of the same year. + +I have selected this play, "The Group," as being an excellent example +of the partisan writing done at the time of our American Revolution, +and no one can afford to overlook it, although its actable qualities, +according to our present-day judgment, are doubtful. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Mrs. Warren was born at Barnstable, Mass., September 25, 1728, and +died at Plymouth, Mass., October 19, 1814. + +[2] The/Blockheads:/or, the/Affrighted Officers. /A/Farce. /Boston:/ +Printed in Queen-Street,/M,DCC,LXXVI./ + +[3] On the title-page of the Boston edition there appears the +following proem: "As the great business of the polite world is the +eager pursuit of amusement, and as the Public diversions of the season +have been interrupted by the hostile parade in the capital; the +exhibition of a new farce may not be unentertaining." + +[4] The /Motley /Assembly, /A /Farce. /Published /For the +/Entertainment /of the / Curious. /Boston: /Printed and Sold by +Nathaniel Coverly, in /Newbury-Street, / M,DCC,LXXIX./ + +[5] Mrs. Warren's biographer, Alice Brown, quotes the list, as +follows, the persons satirized being in parentheses: Lord Chief +Justice Hazlerod (Oliver); Judge Meagre (E. Hutchinson); Brigadier +Hateall (Ruggles); Hum Humbug, Esq., (Jno. Erving); Sir Sparrow +Spendall (Sir Wm. Pepperell); Hector Mushroom (Col. Murray); Beau +Trumps (Jno. Vassall); Dick, the Publican (Lechmere); Monsieur de +François (N. R. Thomas); Crusty Crowbar, Esq. (J. Boutineau); +Dupe,--Secretary of State (T. Flucker); Scriblerius Fribble (Leonard); +Commodore Bateau (Loring). The significance of these names will be +apparent to student of local Colonial history. + +[6] The /Group,/ A / Farce: / As lately Acted, and to be Re-acted, to +the Wonder/ of all superior Intelligences; /Nigh Head Quarters, at/ +Amboyne. /In Two Acts./ New-York: / Printed by John Anderson,/ at +Beekman's-Slip./ [The Boston edition was printed and sold by Edes and +Gill, in Queen-Street, 1775.] + + + + +[Illustration: THE + +GROUP, + +A + +FARCE: + +As lately Acted, and to be Re-acted, to the Wonder of all superior +Intelligences; + +NIGH HEAD QUARTERS, AT + +AMBOYNE. + +IN TWO ACTS. + +JAMAICA, PRINTED; +_PHILADELPHIA_, RE-PRINTED; +BY JAMES HUMPHREYS, junior, in Front-street. + +M,DCC,LXXV. + +FAC-SIMILE TITLE-PAGE OF THE FIRST EDITION] + + + + +The AUTHOR has thought proper to borrow the following spirited lines +from a late celebrated Poet, and offer to the public, by way of +PROLOGUE, which cannot fail of pleasing at this crisis. + + +PROLOGUE + +_WHAT! arm'd for virtue, and not point the pen, +Brand the bold front of shameless guilty men, +Dash the proud gamester from his gilded car, +Bare the mean heart which lurks beneath a star,_ + + * * * + +_Shall I not strip the gilding off a knave, +Unplac'd, unpension'd, no man's heir, or slave? +I will, or perish in the gen'rous cause; +Hear this and tremble, ye who 'scape the laws; +Yes, while I live, no rich or noble knave, +Shall walk the world in credit to his grave; +To virtue only, and her friends, a friend, +The world beside may murmur, or commend._ + + + + +DRAMATIS PERSONĈ + + +_Lord Chief Justice HAZLEROD_, +_Judge MEAGRE_, +_Brigadier HATEALL_, +_HUM HUMBUG, Esquire_, +_Sir SPARROW SPENDALL_, +_HECTOR MUSHROOM,--Col._ +_BEAU TRUMPS_, +_DICK, the Publican_, +_SIMPLE SAPLING, Esquire_, +_Monsieur de FRANÇOIS_, +_CRUSTY CROWBAR, Esquire_, +_DUPE,--Secretary of State_, +_SCRIBLERIUS FRIBBLE_, +_Commodore BATEAU_, +_COLLATERALIS,--a new-made Judge_. + +Attended by a swarm of court sycophants, hungry harpies, and +unprincipled danglers, collected from the neighbouring villages, +hovering over the stage in the shape of locusts, led by +Massachusettensis in the form of a basilisk; the rear brought up by +Proteus, bearing a torch in one hand, and a powder-flask in the other. +The whole supported by a mighty army and navy, from Blunderland, for +the laudable purpose of enslaving its best friends. + + + + +_The_ + +GROUP + +_A_ + +_Farce_ + + + + +ACT I. + + +SCENE I. _A little dark Parlour in Boston:_ + +_GUARDS standing at the door._ + +_HAZLEROD, CRUSTY CROWBAR, SIMPLE SAPLING, HATEALL, and HECTOR +MUSHROOM._ + +SIMPLE. + + I know not what to think of these sad times, +The people arm'd,--and all resolv'd to die +Ere they'll submit.---- + +CRUSTY CROWBAR. + + I too am almost sick of the parade +Of honours purchas'd at the price of peace. + +SIMPLE. + + Fond as I am of greatness and her charms, +Elate with prospects of my rising name, +Push'd into place,--a place I ne'er expected, +My bounding heart leapt in my feeble breast. +And ecstasies entranc'd my slender brain.-- +But yet, ere this I hop'd more solid gains, +As my low purse demands a quick supply.-- +Poor Sylvia weeps,--and urges my return +To rural peace and humble happiness, +As my ambition beggars all her babes. + +CRUSTY. + + When first I listed in the desp'rate cause, +And blindly swore obedience to his will, +So wise, so just, so good I thought Rapatio, +That if salvation rested on his word +I'd pin my faith, and risk my hopes thereon. + +HAZLEROD. + + Any why not now?--What staggers thy belief? + +CRUSTY. + + Himself--his perfidy appears-- +It is too plain he has betray'd his country; +And we're the wretched tools by him mark'd out +To seal its ruins--tear up the ancient forms, +And every vestige treacherously destroy, +Nor leave a trait of freedom in the land. +Nor did I think hard fate wou'd call me up +From drudging o'er my acres, +Treading the glade, and sweating at the plough, +To dangle at the tables of the great; +At bowls and cards to spend my frozen years; +To sell my friends, my country, and my conscience; +Profane the sacred sabbaths of my God; +Scorn'd by the very men who want my aid +To spread distress o'er this devoted people. + +HAZLEROD. + + Pho--what misgivings--why these idle qualms, +This shrinking backwards at the bugbear conscience; +In early life I heard the phantom nam'd, +And the grave sages prate of moral sense +Presiding in the bosom of the just; +Or planting thongs about the guilty heart. +Bound by these shackles, long my lab'ring mind, +Obscurely trod the lower walks of life, +In hopes by honesty my bread to gain; +But neither commerce, or my conjuring rods, +Nor yet mechanics, or new fangled drills, +Or all the iron-monger's curious arts, +Gave me a competence of shining ore, +Or gratify'd my itching palm for more; +Till I dismiss'd the bold intruding guest, +And banish'd conscience from my wounded breast. + +CRUSTY. + + Happy expedient!--Could I gain the art, +Then balmy sleep might sooth my waking lids, +And rest once more refresh my weary soul. + +HAZLEROD. + + Resolv'd more rapidly to gain my point, +I mounted high in justice's sacred seat, +With flowing robes, and head equip'd without, +A heart unfeeling and a stubborn soul, +As qualify'd as e'er a Jefferies was; +Save in the knotty rudiments of law, +The smallest requisite for modern times, +When wisdom, law, and justice are supply'd +By swords, dragoons, and ministerial nods, +Sanctions most sacred in the Pander's creed, +I sold my country for a splendid bribe. +Now let her sink--and all the dire alarms +Of war, confusion, pestilence, and blood, +And tenfold mis'ry be her future doom-- +Let civil discord lift her sword on high, +Nay, sheath its hilt e'en in my brother's blood; +It ne'er shall move the purpose of my soul; +Tho' once I trembled at a thought so bold; +By Philalethes's arguments, convinc'd, +We may live Demons, as we die like brutes, +I give my tears, and conscience to the winds. + +HATEALL. + + Curse on their coward fears, and dastard souls, +Their soft compunctions and relented qualms, +Compassion ne'er shall seize my steadfast breast +Though blood and carnage spread thro' all the land; +Till streaming purple tinge the verdant turf, +Till ev'ry street shall float with human gore, +I Nero-like, the capital in flames, +could laugh to see her glotted sons expire, +Tho' much too rough my soul to touch the lyre. + +SIMPLE. + + I fear the brave, the injur'd multitude, +Repeated wrongs, arouse them to resent, +And every patriot like old Brutus stands, +The shining steel half drawn--its glitt'ring point +Scarce hid beneath the scabbard's friendly cell, +Resolv'd to die, or see their country free. + +HATEALL. + + Then let them die--_The dogs we will keep down_-- +While N----'s my friend, and G---- approves the deed, +Tho' hell and all its hell-hounds should unite, +I'll not recede to save from swift perdition +My wife, my country, family, or friends. +G----'s mandamus I more highly prize +Than all the mandates of th' etherial king. + +HECTOR MUSHROOM. + + Will our abettors in the distant towns +Support us long against the common cause, +When they shall see from Hampshire's northern bounds +Thro' the wide western plains to southern shores +The whole united continent in arms?---- + +HATEALL. + + They shall--as sure as oaths or bond can bind; +I've boldly sent my new-born brat abroad, +Th' association of my morbid brain, +To which each minion must affix his name, +As all our hope depends on brutal force, +On quick destruction, misery, and death; +Soon may we see dark ruin stalk around, +With murder, rapine, and inflicted pains; +Estates confiscate, slav'ry, and despair, +Wrecks, halters, axes, gibbeting and chains, +All the dread ills that wait on civil war;---- +How I could glut my vengeful eyes to see +The weeping maid thrown helpless on the world, +Her sire cut off.--Her orphan brothers stand, +While the big tear rolls down the manly cheek. +Robb'd of maternal care by grief's keen shaft, +The sorrowing mother mourns her starving babes, +Her murder'd lord torn guiltless from her side, +And flees for shelter to the pitying grave +To screen at once from slavery and pain. + +HAZLEROD. + + But more complete I view this scene of woe, +By the incursions of a savage foe, +Of which I warn'd them, if they dare refuse +The badge of slaves, and bold resistance use. +Now let them suffer--I'll no pity feel. + +HATEALL. + + Nor I!----But had I power, as I have the will, +I'd send them murm'ring to the shades of hell. + +_End of the First Act._ + + + + +ACT II. + +_The scene changes to a large dining room. The table furnished with + bowls, bottles, glasses, and cards.----The Group appear sitting + round in a restless attitude. In one corner of the room is discovered + a small cabinet of books, for the use of the studious and + contemplative; containing, Hobbs's Leviathan, Sipthorp's Sermons, + Hutchinson's History, Fable of the Bees, Philalethes on Philanthropy, + with an appendix by Massachusettensis, Hoyl on Whist, Lives of the + Stuarts, Statutes of Henry the Eighth, and William the Conqueror, + Wedderburne's speeches, and acts of Parliament, for 1774._ + + +SCENE I. + +_HATEALL, HAZLEROD, MONSIEUR, BEAU TRUMPS, SIMPLE, HUMBUG, SIR +SPARROW, &c., &c._ + +SCRIBLERIUS. + + ----Thy toast, Monsieur, +Pray, why that solemn phiz:-- +Art thou, too, balancing 'twixt right and wrong? +Hast thou a thought so mean as to give up +Thy present good, for promise in reversion? +'Tis true hereafter has some feeble terrors, +But ere our grizzly heads are wrapt in clay +We may compound, and make our peace with Heav'n. + +MONSIEUR. + + Could I give up the dread of retribution, +The awful reck'ning of some future day, +Like surly Hateall I might curse mankind, +And dare the threat'ned vengeance of the skies. +Or like yon apostate---- + + [_Pointing to HAZLEROD, retired to a corner + to read Massachusettensis._ + + Feel but slight remorse +To sell my country for a grasp of gold. +But the impressions of my early youth, +Infix'd by precepts of my pious sire, +Are stings and scorpions in my goaded breast; +Oft have I hung upon my parent's knee +And heard him tell of his escape from France; +He left the land of slaves, and wooden shoes; +From place to place he sought a safe retreat, +Till fair Bostonia stretch'd her friendly arm +And gave the refugee both bread and peace: +(Shall I ungrateful 'rase the sacred bonds, +And help to clank the tyrant's iron chains +O'er these blest shores--once the sure asylum +From all the ills of arbitrary sway?) +With his expiring breath he bade his sons, +If e'er oppression reach'd the western world, +Resist its force, and break the servile yoke. + +SCRIBLERIUS. + + Well quit thy post;----Go make thy flatt'ring court +To Freedom's Sons and tell thy baby fears; +Shew the foot traces in thy puny heart, +Made by the trembling tongue and quiv'ring lip +Of an old grandsire's superstitious whims. + +MONSIEUR. + + No,----I never can---- +So great the itch I feel for titl'd place, +Some honorary post, some small distinction, +To save my name from dark oblivion's jaws, +I'll hazard all, but ne'er give up my place, +For _that_ I'll see Rome's ancient rites restor'd, +And flame and faggot blaze in ev'ry street. + +BEAU TRUMPS. + + ----That's right, Monsieur, +There's nought on earth that has such tempting charms +As rank and show, and pomp, and glitt'ring dress, +Save the dear counters at belov'd Quadril, +Viner unsoil'd, and Littleton, may sleep, +And Coke lie mould'ring on the dusty shelf, +If I by shuffling draw some lucky card +That wins the livres, or lucrative place. + +HUM HUMBUG. + + When sly Rapatio shew'd his friends the scroll, +I wonder'd much to see thy patriot name +Among the list of rebels to the state, +I thought thee one of Rusticus's sworn friends. + +BEAU TRUMPS. + + When first I enter'd on the public stage +My country groan'd beneath base Brundo's hand, +Virtue look'd fair and beckon'd to her lure, +Thro' truth's bright mirror I beheld her charms +And wish'd to tread the patriotic path +And wear the laurels that adorn his fame; +I walk'd a while and tasted solid peace +With Cassius, Rusticus, and good Hortensius, +And many more, whose names will be rever'd +When you, and I, and all the venal herd, +Weigh'd in Nemesis, just impartial scale, +Are mark'd with infamy, till time blot out +And in oblivion sink our hated names. +But 'twas a poor unprofitable path, +Nought to be gain'd, save solid peace of mind, +No pensions, place or title there I found; +I saw Rapatio's arts had struck so deep +And giv'n his country such a fatal wound, +None but his foes promotion could expect; +I trim'd, and pimp'd, and veer'd, and wav'ring stood, +But half resolv'd to shew myself a knave, +Till the Arch Traitor prowling round for aid +Saw my suspense and bade me doubt no more;-- +He gently bow'd, and smiling took my hand, +And whispering softly in my list'ning ear, +Shew'd me my name among his chosen band, +And laugh'd at virtue dignifi'd by fools, +Clear'd all my doubts, and bade me persevere +In spite of the restraints, or hourly checks +Of wounded friendship, and a goaded mind, +Or all the sacred ties of truth and honour. + +COLLATERALIS. + + Come, 'mongst ourselves we'll e'en speak out the truth. +Can you suppose there yet is such a dupe +As still believes that wretch an honest man? + The later strokes of his serpentine brain +Outvie the arts of Machiavel himself, +His Borgian model here is realiz'd +And the stale tricks of politicians play'd +Beneath a vizard fair---- + ----Drawn from the heav'nly form +Of blest religion weeping o'er the land +For virtue fall'n, and for freedom lost. + +BEAU TRUMPS. + + I think with you---- +----unparalleled his effront'ry, +When by chican'ry and specious art, +'Midst the distress in which he'd brought the city, +He found a few (by artifice and cunning, +By much industry of his wily friend +The false Philanthrop----sly undermining tool, +Who with the Syren's voice---- +Deals daily round the poison of his tongue) +To speak him fair--and overlook his guilt. +They by reiterated promise made +To stand his friend at Britain's mighty court, +And vindicate his native injur'd land, +Lent him their names to sanctify his deeds. +But mark the traitor----his high crimes gloss'd o'er +Conceals the tender feelings of the man, +The social ties that bind the human heart; +He strikes a bargain with his country's foes, +And joins to wrap America in flames. +Yet with feign'd pity, and Satanic grin, +As if more deep to fix the keen insult, +Or make his life a farce still more complete, +He sends a groan across the broad Atlantic, +And with a phiz of Crocodilian stamp, +Can weep, and wreathe, still hoping to deceive, +He cries the gath'ring clouds hang thick about her, +But laughs within----then sobs---- + ----Alas! my country? + +HUM HUMBUG. + + Why so severe, or why exclaim at all, +Against the man who made thee what thou art? + +BEAU TRUMPS. + + I know his guilt,--I ever knew the man, +Thy father knew him e'er we trod the stage; +I only speak to such as know him well; +Abroad I tell the world he is a saint, +But as for int'rest I betray'd my own +With the same views, I rank'd among his friends: +But my ambition sighs for something more. +What merits has Sir Sparrow of his own, +And yet a feather graces the fool's cap: +Which did he wear for what himself achiev'd, +'Twould stamp some honour on his latest heir---- +But I'll suspend my murm'ring care awhile; +Come, t' other glass----and try our luck at Loo, +And if before the dawn your gold I win, +Or e'er bright Phoebus does his course begin, +The eastern breeze from Britain's hostile shore +Should waft her lofty floating towers o'er, +Whose waving pendants sweep the wat'ry main, +Dip their proud beaks and dance towards the plain, +The destin'd plains of slaughter and distress, +Laden with troops from Hanover and Hess, +It would invigorate my sinking soul, +For then the continent we might control; +Not all the millions that she vainly boasts +Can cope with Veteran Barbarian hosts;---- +But the brave sons of Albion's warlike race, +Their arms, and honours, never can disgrace, +Or draw their swords in such a hated cause, +In blood to seal a N----'s oppressive laws, +They'll spurn the service;----Britons must recoil, +And shew themselves the natives of an isle +Who sought for freedom, in the worst of times +Produc'd her Hampdens, Fairfaxes, and Pyms. + But if by carnage we should win the game, +Perhaps by my abilities and fame: +I might attain a splendid glitt'ring car, +And mount aloft, and sail in liquid air. +Like Phaëton, I'd then out-strip the wind, +And leave my low competitors behind. + +_Finis._ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Group, by Mercy Warren + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GROUP *** + +***** This file should be named 29224-8.txt or 29224-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/2/2/29224/ + +Produced by David Starner, Brownfox and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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