Book _^-/6-S COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT Philip Freneau DEDICATED TO THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Author's Preface THERE is nothing new in this book, kind reader, for, if Solomon proved to his satisfaction that there is " nothing new under the sun," presumptuous indeed would it be in me to think to have succeeded in that wherein the wisest of men has failed. M. Bautain, in his admirable treatise,^ speaks of two methods of conceiving a subject : the one direct by means of illumination, the other indirect and within the reach of ordinary minds. He says it is difficult to be original upon subjects already treated of; but a second sort of originality consists in giving forth ideas that have become incorporated in one's own, and have been quickened with the life of one's own mind, which is called " taking possession in the finder's name." This latter process, he continues, consists in acting as does the bee, which extracts from the flowers the aromatic and oleaginous particles, that serve to form the honey and the wax. " Be it well observed," he says, " that the bee first nourishes itself with these sub- stances by the process of absorption and assimilation." Therefore, kind reader, if in perusing this imperfect work you should find that which is familiar to you, remember it is not solely with the intention of giving ^ Bautain on " Extempore Speaking." vii Preface you the new that it is written. " Non nova^ sed nove^'' says Vincent of Lerins — not new, but in a new form. I claim no originaHty in the treatment of my subject ; my efforts have been directed rather to presenting in the best light the character and times of the subject of our biography, than to the endeavor to appear orig- inal. When this end could be the better attained by making use of the words of others, I have done so ; as most of the information they have received has emanated from the same sources as my own; namely, the relatives of the subject of this work, and likewise of the author. An author^ has deplored the fact that there are hundreds of names of men who hav^e rendered the most important services to their country, that have been suffered to sink to the grave " unwept, unhon- ored, and unsung," and in a great measure it has been this thought that has prompted me to do what lies in mv power to keep alive the memory of one who, born almost a century and a half ago, had an influence in the colonies during their struggle for independence that is said to have been very great. I speak of Philip Morin Freneau, the " Poet of the Revolution." Although in Freneau's case we may not hold as strictlv true the words of the author above quoted, inasmuch as from time to time able and interesting articles upon his life and writings have appeared, still from paucity of data these have been fragmentary and somewhat erroneous, owing in part to the disastrous fire 1 Thomas. via Prefc ace that consumed Mont Pleasant, the poet's homestead, in which were consumed, along with much of his un- published poetry, many valuable letters and manu- scripts that would have given abundant matter for a most interesting work. Since undertaking the task of giving to the public the Life of Freneau, some unexpected data in the form of notebooks and marginal notes have thrown light upon some hitherto unaccounted-for years in the poet's life, and have served to link together the portions already given to the public, as well as to correct many mis- statements. Appreciating the fact that the life of a man is in reality a history of the times in which he has lived, and that the value of history depends as much on its veracity as upon the matter, 1 have endeavored to gain an accurate insight into the times, as well as the life of the man. I am enabled, consequently, to say that what 1 have stated as facts are in accordance with history, whereas such things as have not been proved are given as probabilities. As one can judge of the works of a person being great or small only by comparing them with those of others, as well as by their effect upon posterity, I leave all judgment to my readers, contented with merely supplying the facts. As no less than fifteen authors, possibly more, have written upon this subject, most of them being authors of repute, I have drawn entirely upon them for the matter contained in the chapter devoted to Freneau's poetry and prose compositions, bestowing all eulogy in ix Prcfc ace their words, as praise comes not well from interested parties, and criticism is not pleasant to one to whom the object is endeared by association with loved ones. With Mr. Julian Verplanck, his friend and reviewer, one would rather — " With full applause in honour to his age. Dismiss the veteran poet from the stage ; Crown his last exit with distinguished praise. And kindly hide his baldness with the bays." Philip Freneau he Poet of the Revolution A History of His Life and Times % . Mary S. Austin Edited by Helen Kearny Vreeland Great-granddaughter of the Poet Descriptas servare vices, operumque colores Cur ego, si nequeo ignoroque, poeta salutor Horace New York A. Wessels Company MDCCCCI I 1 * ^ COPYRIGHT, 19OI, BY A. WESSELS COMPANY THE LIBRARY OF GL'NGRESS. Two Cof'its Keceiveo JAN. 2 ^90? CLmSS (C KXo. k»w. COPY U UNIVERSITY PRESS • JOHN WILSON AND SON • CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. Table of Contents Page Preface ix Revocation of the Edict of Nantes I New York in ye Olden Time 12 Huguenots in America 32 The Founder and his Family in America 49 Freneau's Youthful Days 69 Gen. John Morin Scott 89 Capture of the Aurora 104 Almost a Decade of Years 121 Freneau's Political Life 147 Peace after War 1 76 Freneau as an Author 211 His Family and Relatives 227 The Rising Glory of America 237 Appendix 253 Index of Names 279 List of Illustrations Philip Frencau (Photogravure) Frontispiece TO rACE PAG£ ^ Church du St. Ksprit 5^ Agnes Watson, Mother of Philip Freneau .... ']i ^ National Gazette ^5° The Poet's Grave 2iO Q y Agnes Watson Freneau Leadbeater 2 20 PHILIP FRENEAU The Poet of the Revolution Chapter First IN relation to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, much has been written by authors holding very- different sentiments. With some, we should deem the Huguenots an inof- fensive and deeply wronged people, persecuted solely on account of their religious convictions; according to others, we should look upon Louis Quatorze as a forbearing monarch, — one who, being in imminent danger of having his kingdom wrested from him and its religion subverted, was compelled to act upon the defensive. Some represent the Huguenots as bearing injuries inflicted upon them with fortitude, and suffering per- secutions even to martyrdom for their religion ; others depict the king as pursuing his rigorous course through the purest of motives, and to such an extent only as to repress the continual revolts of his rebellious sub- jects ; they would cause us to hear him say to his intendants, " Je vous recommande surtout de menager avec douceur les esprits de ceux de la dite religion ;" and to listen to his censure of one governor for pursu- ing a different course ; and to learn of the recall of another for the same offence. In the year of our Lord 1685, that which saw the Edict of Nantes revoked, France was divided into two parties ; the dominant one being that of the Crown, headed by Louis Quatorze, — a prince as scrupulous and inflexible in matters regarding the faith he pro- [-] [/] Phi/ip Frcucau fesscd as he was unscrupulous and lax in the morals he practised. Intolerant of any opinion not his own, he condemned freedom of conscience in his subjects as tantamount to rebellion against his kingly authority. In religion, as in other matters, he would be absolute. The minor party, that of the Huguenots, or Calvin- ists, still retained the characteristics sternly impressed upon it bv its founder ; which caused its adherents to live a life as totally at variance with that of their coun- trymen as was their belief. The severe and inflexible decrees of Almighty God, and the impotence of man's will in influencing his own destiny, being the basis of the Huguenot's creed, it produced in him a risjid severity of morals which, repressing all the nat- ural instincts and emotions, caused a corresponding austerity of manner in his private life; while his nat- ural independence of character, joined to the conviction of the hopelessness of his cause, gave him an air ot defiance in his public demeanor and intercourse with the outer world. The former party, powerful and all- important, were as arrogant as such characteristics usu- ally cause their possessors to become ; while the other, no longer of political importance and consequently possessed of no influence at court, bowed to the inevi- table, and, although subdued, were not conquered. Cardinal de Richelieu, upon his elevation to the prime ministry, set himself to the accomplishment ot three things ; and having already eftected two of them, namely, the humiliation of Austria and the extinction of feudalism, turned his attention to the one that lay nearest home, — the subjugation and conversion of the Huguenots. Their subjugation he had eftected in the year i6'28 by the sie2;e and possession of La Rochelle, which had been followed by the reduction of Montauban, the last stronghold of the Huguenots in France. The terms of capitulation at La Rochelle had been l-'l The Poet of the Revolution liberal in the extreme, far more so than the besieged had dared to hope / and since the treaty signed at Alais in 1629 difference in religion had never prevented the cardinal from rendering the conquered all sorts of good offices, nor had it caused him to make any dis- tinction between Frenchmen in the fulfilment of the duties of his office.'^ Notwithstanding the late revolt of the Rochellese, he had continued to protect the re- ligious as well as the civil rights guaranteed to them by Henri Quatrc in 1598, in what is known as the " Edict of Nantes." But in regard to their conversion, even the sagacious Richelieu was mistaken, perhaps for the first time in his political career. The peaceful submission of the Huguenots was only the result of necessity. Their ambitious hopes crushed, their numbers depleted by the many wars they had undertaken, as well as the abandonment of their cause by the greater number of their nobility, had combined to oblige them to relin- quish all hopes for the future, and set themselves to the work of repairing the sad eflfects of the last war ; consequently those districts of France inhabited by them soon began to present their former appearance of fertility and thriftiness. Excluded from higher pursuits, those of the Hugue- nots whose means permitted them to do so, lived in retirement ; devoting themselves to the management of their estates, or else engaging in commerce, which they soon controlled to a considerable extent. Others turned their energies toward the development of the different manufactures in which, by their close appli- cation and enterprise, they soon excelled to such a degree as to cause some of its branches to become almost a monopoly with them. With returning prosperity and a steady increase of population, the Huguenots began to raise their heads * Ozaneau. ^ Richelieu's own testimony. {3\ Philip Freneau again ; and, as their religious as well as civil rights were secured to them, their academies soon became national synods ; and they have been charged with infractions of several of the articles of the Edict. Deprived, by death, of the counsels of the sagacious Richelieu and the prudent Mazarin, and likewise of the politic advice of the displaced Colbert, Louis, encouraged by the fanatical, war-loving Louvois, deter- mined upon taking more effective measures to hasten the conversion of the Huguenots which he was so desirous of bringing about. By degrees many of the privileges guaranteed to them were curtailed ; and they, fearing lest in time they might see the Edict rendered null, began to hold their assemblies as in days gone by ; and, as in those times, force was now likewise used to prevent them, sometimes indeed to such a degree as to cause blood- shed. Symptoms of insurrection in the southern and western portions of France caused Louis to realize that the spirit of Calvin yet lived ; and that the Huguenots were still a political body which might give cause for alarm. "It is necessary to recognize this fact," savs Poole, " in order to render the attitude of Louis towards them intelligible. This has been denied persistently by them and their descendants, and its assertion is stigmatized as an attempt to vin- dicate conduct which, judged by its results, is in a supreme degree indefensible. But the truth is that, from this point of view of the national disaster, the recall of the Edict, setting the whole world in an attitude hostile to Louis, stands at so indefinite a height among the follies of statesmen that no exagger- ation of fact can aggravate it ; for this very reason we should grasp at anything which, while it cannot palliate it, may serve to explain its stupendous mistake." At the king's council held October 2, 1685, the Act of Revocation was passed by a unanimous vote, 1^] The Poet of the Revolution and Louis signed the declaration to be sent to the different intendants of the provinces, to be read by them in public. In concert with his minister, Louvois, he now set about the prosecution of the work with all the vigor of which he was capable. The dragonade was estab- lished, and cruelty succeeded cruelty. Threats, im- prisonment, and death followed each other, the latter by single murders and public massacres, until it seemed that the heresy would be extinguished in blood. The only alternative for the proud-spirited Hugue- nots was to abjure their faith or suffer the penalty. Escape was prohibited under pain of the galleys if they were caught in the act. Many of the Huguenots that lived in the shadow of the court abjured their religion; others, along with gentlemen living in the provinces, men of commerce and manufacturers, deter- mined to leave their native land, however hazardous the attempt might be. The depopulation of his kingdom had no part in the king's intention ; therefore he ordered the ports to be closed and the frontiers to be closely guarded, thinking thus to prevent the threatened exodus ; but determined men are not easily thwarted in their designs, and many ways were devised to elude the vigilance of the officials. In many cases gold proved the "open sesame" of closed ports and guarded frontiers ; disguises also and second-hand passports served to pass many across the boundaries, and frequently bales of merchandise came to life when safely stowed away in the holds of friendly ships. As the Protestant countries offered hospitality to the refugees, some sought homes in Holland and others in Switzerland. They were obliged to make their way thither during the darkness of the night, [5] Philip Freneau concealing themselves by day, and crossing the fron- tiers by the least frequented roads. Many found means of crossing to England, notwithstanding the precautions taken to prevent them from doing so. Certainly, the migration of such numbers of indus- trious people could not but make itself felt throughout the kingdom, and it did paralyze commerce and manu- factures to a great extent. It being impossible to ascertain the exact number of refugees, each historian seems to have set down figures according to his own conjecture ; consequently the numbers are in some cases undoubtedly exaggerated. Hume has estimated the exodus to have cost France half a million of her subjects, and many have accepted his statement. Larrey, Jurieu, and Benoit give as a total two hun- dred thousand, Basnage, one hundred and fifty thou- sand, Caveirac iifty-five thousand, and others seventy, and sixty thousand. The Duke of Burgundy, of whose opportunity of ascertaining the nearest ap- proach to the correct figures and of whose sincerity m stating them an historian has assured us,^ asserts their number not to have exceeded sixty-eight thousand. There can be no doubt that the loss of even the least of these numbers of subjects did affect the material prosperity of France ; and this fact was most probably the cause of the unwillingness ot Louis to have the Huguenots leave his kingdom. And here likewise historians differ. Some assert that their migration was the ruin of the country, while, on the contrary, others say that the disadvantage to France has been greatly overstated. Tessereau, the king's intendant, says : " Although the refugees from La Rochelle were from amongst the principal inhabitants, both in regard of substance and reputation, the gener- ality of the emigrants were those who either had little iFredet. [^1 The Poet of the Revolution or nothing, or were compelled to leave what they had behind them." Certainly the majority were obliged to receive assistance from the countries in which they sought refuge, instead of enriching them as some would believe. They did take with them, however, a vast amount of energy, industry, and a knowledge of manufacture, along with the germs of the principles of the demo- cratic government they afterwards helped to establish in the new world, and a corresponding love for freedom, and hatred of monarchial forms of govern- ment, and all that savored of royalty. With their loss agriculture declined, and likewise the culture of the vine ; consequently the domestic supply and the foreign trade in wines were cut off. Imports failed, as the links of commerce were sun- dered; weaving also suffered greatly. Yet, notwith- standing all this, some writers have declared that, instead of being a misfortune to France, the king received congratulations because this emigration freed his kingdom from rebellious subjects whose loss would soon be made good. The greatest misfortune would seem to lie in the fact of a mother country so treating her children as to oblige them to seek a home on foreign shores, even were the reproach of one of the exiles to his fellow refugees merited, — of having caused these extreme measures by their own conduct ; to which he added a second, saying that the laws of most of the Protes- tant countries against Catholics were more severe than those of Catholic princes against Protestants.^ Those of the refugees that reached Switzerland im- mediately became incorporated into its civil as well as religious life, while those that succeeded in reach- ing Holland joined the Walloons, and some of them eventually reached the shores of the new world in 1 Avis aux Refugies, Bayle. f7l Philip Freneau Dutch ships. Others again that sought permanent homes or a temporary asylum upon the English coast found in some localities French Protestant churches with the surplus of a fund, raised some years previously, and which was now devoted either to their maintenance or to defray their expenses to some of the British col- onies in the new world. Those of the exiles that settled in England adopted the established religion, alleging, as a reason for so do- ing, that the kindness received from the country as well as the church made such a step a duty for them; but others, so long as they were not obliged to re- nounce it, clung to the form of religion in use in their native land. Those that intended to make their future home in the colonies adopted, for the time being, the form of the established church. During their sojourn in England, the wealthier and more intelligent of the refugees had the opportunity of gaining information regarding the different British colonies, and had leisure to mature plans tor their future. Many of them had relatives or acquaintances in the new worid, and, after some correspondence with them, their future course was decided. Such of the refugees as had foreseen their flight, had left their property in the care of friends, who afterwards contrived to transmit at least a portion of it to the owners. To such, although saddened by reverses and separation from friends and country, the future did not present such a dreary aspect as it did to those who had only their passage money, or not even that. The latter were obliged to trust their future in the hands of some captain willing to convey them to the some- times very distant port to which the vessel was bound. None of the French vessels being of sufficient size to cross the Atlantic, the poor Huguenots were usually landed upon some European coast, were they fortunate enough to reach it alive ; for the voyage was full of dan- \8\ The Poet of the Revolution ger, and the captains often unskilful. Many of the exiles found homes in the bosom of the deep. The American colonies were desirous of receiving the refugees. Massachusetts and South Carolina had agents in England to make proposals to them. Wil- liam Penn would fain have their assistance in the form- ing of his new colony, and Virginia offered them land at trifling cost and even as a gift, provided they would settle upon it. Many of the refugees took out papers of naturaliza- tion before they left England. Others, loath to cut the slender tie that united them to their native land, deferred the act until they should reach the precise locality in which they should decide to settle. When Charles II. first invited the Huguenots to England, he led them to believe that by one general act, they all would receive the benefits of naturalization ; but this idea was not realized. For a long time they were allowed to obtain under the royal seal a grant by which they might secure to themselves and families all the rights, immunities, and privileges enjoyed by free-born citizens ; the only obligation being that of actual residence in England or within its dominions: but several exactions were made ; among which was a certificate proving that they had received commun- ion, and another promising they would take the oath of allegiance and supremacy within a year. In 1 67 1 Virginia passed an act giving to all aliens, that desired to become citizens the liberties, privileges and immunities of those born within the British do- minions upon their presenting a petition to the As- sembly, and taking the usual oath of supremacy and allegiance. New York passed a similar act in 1686, and South Carolina did the same in 1691. Escape from their country was not, however, the sole solicitude of the exiles. By it one step might be accom- plished, but other steps were yet to be taken before Philip Freneau their lives could assume a peaceful tenor. First was the passage across the great ocean that lay between them and the new world in which they hoped to plant their " vine and fig tree ; " after which some time must elapse before they could hope to eat their fruits and rest beneath their shade. The passage of the Atlantic was fraught with many dangers. No two vessels ever pursued the same course, as Maury had not yet planned his wind and water-cur- rent charts. Chronometers and quadrants were un- known to navigation, the compass being the captain's sole assistant. Sometimes, indeed, the ship would be found many degrees out of its intended course, and again approaching to the very coast it had lately quitted. Steam not having been impressed into the service, the small and inferior vessels were the sport of every wind and wave. One moment raised on a mighty billow, the next would find them engulfed in its depths, to be tossed upwards just as the passengers thought to find a watery grave. Pirates infested the waters ; consequently, however distant, every sail caused a tremor of anxiety to cap- tain, passengers, and crew. Every vessel was obliged to carry guns and ammunition, which occupied the room needed for provisions for such a lengthy voyage, and sometimes they were reduced almost to starvation. Frequently deaths ensued from lack of food as well as from want of medical attendance and the simplest of remedies. " Land ho ! " was a joyful cry ; but often it was only the beginning of new dangers, as no pilots were found awaiting them, and no friendly lighthouse warned them of dangerous rocks; and in case of shipwreck no saving life-boats manned by willing hands and fearless hearts were there to save them. What won- der if many of the poor exiles required no earthly home. iw\ The Poet of the Revolution Provided the landing was successful, who shall de- scribe the homesickness of those who had left the most luxurious of all the modern countries, with the refinement of its society and the comforts of the fam- ily hearthstone, with its well-known faces and famil- iar language, to meet the inconveniencies and privations of a new land, with its strange tongue and unfamiliar countenances ? But brighter days were in store for these poor wan- derers. To whatever part of the new world they came they brought their industry and enterprise, and prob- ably no other class of emigrants contributed more, in proportion to their number, toward the prosperity of the country of their adoption than they. In whatever station of Hfe they belonged they were remarkable for their kindliness and courtesy, as likewise for the re- finement, and even elegance of their manners, as well as their mental calibre. Of the seven presidents of the Continental Congress, three were of Huguenot parentage : Henry Laurens, John Jay, and Elias Boudinot. In New York city and in its vicinity the names of the French refugees are amongst the most prominent ones. [^^1 N Chapter Second F,W YORK is settled upon the west end of the island having that small arm of the sea which divides it from Long Island on the south side ot it, which runs away eastward to New England, and is navigable though dangerous. For about ten miles from New York is a place called Hel Gat which being a narrow passage, there runneth a violent stream both upon ebb and flood, and in the middle lieth some Islands of rocks, which the current sets so violently upon that it threatens present ship- wreck ; and upon the Hood is a large whirlpool which continually sends forth a hideous roaring, enough to artVight any stranger from passing any turther, and to wait for some charm to conduct him through ; yet to those that are well acquainted little or no danger, yet a place of great defence au;ainst any enemy coming in that way, which a small tortification would absolutely prevent and necessitate them to come in at the west end of Long Island by Sandy Hook, where Nutten Island doth force them within command of the Fort at New York, which is one of the best Pieces of De- fense in the north parts ot America. '' New York is built most of brick and stone and covered with red and black tile, and the land being high, it gives at a distance a pleasing aspect to the spectators. The bay upon the south side which joins to the sea, it is so fortified with bars of sands and shoals, that it is a sufficient defense against any enemy. Upon the south side of Long Island in the winter lie stores ot Whales and Crampusses, which the inhabi- tants begin with small boats to make a trade, catching I f2 I The Poet of the Revolution to their no small benefit. Also innumerable multitude of seals which make an excellent oil. They lie all the winter upon some broken marshes and beaches or bars of sand before mentioned, and might be easily got were there some skilful men would undertake it. Hudson River runneth by New York northward into the Coun- try towards the head of which is seated New Albany (a place of great trade with the Indians) betwixt which and New York being above one hundred miles is as good corn land as the world affords." Such was one of the first published accounts of the colony of New York, written much in the style of Mandeville, and it is probably as accurate a description of Manhattan Island and environs as may be found. The " hideous roaring " of Hell Gate has moder- ated its tone ; the seals that once basked upon the marshes of southern I.ong Island have taken them- selves to more congenial shores ; and the whales and grampuses that frolicked in its waters probably con- tinue their sports in quieter places. The bar, once such an obstacle to navigation, is there no longer ; it has subsided into the harbor bottom or else continues its " moanings " in some other locality, allowing ves- sels of the largest size to approach the city except at the lowest tide : this has proved of great benefit to the young colony. As a violent storm makes itself known by ripples breaking upon far distant shores, so the great disturb- ance in France occasioned by the revocation of the " Edict of Nantes " caused itself to be felt even in the insignificant little colony of New York; the ma- jority of whose inhabitants had scarcely recovered from the shock occasioned by the fact of being handed over, like so much merchandise, into the hands of another sovereign. During the years 1685-6 a continuous tide of im- migration poured into this obscure colony. Every Philip Frcricau vessel arriving in its port brought some of the ref- ugees; which tact caused a considerable amount of puffing in the long pipes of the Dutch inhabitants, and Q^i increased loquacity amongst the English portion of the colony. Not indeed that these good people were unwilling to extend the hospitality of the new world to their unfortunate fellow-creatures, there being quite a suf- ficiency of room for all ; but even the best-tempered people are apt to be discomposed at innovations in time-honored customs, and certainly many would be necessitated by the admission of so great a number of persons oi a different nationality. Indeed they had already commenced. The first and most important of which was a change in the established postal svstem. Although more than a decade of years had passed since the government of the colony as well as its name had been changed, its members still retained the characteristic trait of its former proprietors, — evi- denced in a degree of phlegmatic temperament rarely met with outside oi those in whose veins flow the blood of the settlers from Holland, or perhaps in others who, from constant and intimate association with them, had contracted the same peculiaritv. The New Yorkers were certainly a slow people. The " hideous roaring " of Hell Gate on the one side of them and the harbor bar on the other, may account for foreign commerce and domestic trade having passed to other ports, therebv increasing the importance of the sister colonies o\ Philadelphia and Boston : never- theless its best friends could call it nothing else but slow. In the year 1686 the discontinuance of their postal system called the " Coffee House Delivery," consid- ered sufficientlv good for the past one hundred years, was the immediate cause of the present disturbance of the even tenor of community life. \I4\ The Poet of the Revolution One should have lived in the days of coffee houses to fully understand the inconvenience of this innova- tion. During the early days of the Dutch settlement, the population of Nieu Amsterdam being small and com- munication with the mother country limited, there had been but little epistolary correspondence, and that little mostly confined to merchants respecting their cargoes. It was the custom in those days to hoist the flag of the "Privileged West India Company" upon the flag- staff in the old fort, whenever a vessel appeared in sight ; and its orange and blue decoration was the signal for a general turnout of the masculine portion of the community to watch and speculate upon the approach of the ship. Upon its arrival, this correspondence was immediately consigned to its respective owners. Those who ex- pected any news of either personal or general nature received it by hand in the former case, and in the lat- ter contingency by word of mouth. 11^ perchance, there should be an unclaimed missive it was left in the care of some responsible person until an owner was found to claim it. In time, however, the captains of the vessels, find- ing sufficient to occupy them besides answering ques- tions and delivering letters, placed the latter, upon landing, in the most popular resort in those days, which was the coffee house. From there they were quickly claimed, read, and discussed over cups of fra- grant coffee. The finding of owners for unclaimed missives was greatly facilitated by the custom of fas- tening them upon a board hung in some conspicuous part of the public room. The endeavor to decipher the almost illegible, and in some cases all but un- decipherable, superscriptions helped to pass an idle moment away and also give basis for speculation. This custom had been continued even after the V^5\ Philip Freneau English had possession of the settlement, as in the coffee house met all the great and learned men of the place, as well as the wits and visiting celebrities ; and great was the flow of wit and reason over the favorite beverage, as they discussed the news that was inter- changed and circulated to an extent that would cast in- to the shade the far-flimed locutionary powers of the fairer portion of the community — but of course men will never admit this. In the year of '86 all this was changed, for an of- ficial order had been issued that all letters comins by ships should in future be sent direct to the Custom House; consequently the " Coffee House Delivery" became a thing of the past. American spirit, however, was not to be thus easily conquered; for when later on the British government started a post office, continental post was likewise started, and patronized to such an extent that the governmental one had very little to do. Although letters were no longer distributed there, the coffee houses still held their own in the public af- fection as places of general resort; holding amongst our ancestors the place the club houses of the nineteenth century do to their descendants. There, matters of great importance as well as matters of no importance at all were discussed, from wars and rumors of wars abroad to a runaway horse at home. Every ship ar- rival supplied a stock of news to be exchanged or re- tailed in greater or lesser quantities as suited the will of the giver and the moderate or immoderate desires of the recipient. When the subject of taxation without representation was discussed, and, later on, that of an independent government mooted, the meetings, formerly of a social nature, assumed a seriousness befitting the matters dis- cussed, and sittings were long and frequent. It was in the coffee house known as " The City Arms," which [ 7^ ] "The Poet of the Revolution faced Bowling Green that opposition to the Stamp Act was first started. This old building stood until a comparatively late date, when it was taken down to make way for modern improvements. It was built partly of brick, the sides and rear being of wood, and was surrounded by a garden in which musical enter- tainments were given. Tradition says that Benedict Arnold lodged in this house after his treason. During British occupation, the coffee houses merely existed. Fraunce's held its own, however, although it was more of a hotel than coffee house proper. This old building is still standing at the corner of Broad and Pearl streets, and has been enlarged, it being at that time only three stories in height; it is of brick and was built in the early part of the eighteenth cen- tury by Mr. S. Delancey, who resided in it. It is still quite firm and may be identified by the green marble slab set in the corner, stating that within its walls Wash- ington delivered his parting address to the army. After that event it declined in importance. After the War of the Revolution, nationality seemed forgotten, and the descendants of the English, Dutch, and French met in a loving brotherhood born of their late common grievances ; and they chose for their place of mutual resort the " Merchants' Coffee House," which stood at the corner of Wall and Water streets. It is described as a three-story building, a store occupying the lower part. On the second floor was the " Long Room " in which public meetings were held. Here statesmen and politicians, merchants and literary men, discussed the affairs of the nation over their cups of coffee or tea. Amongst its frequenters might be seen the majestic figure of Washington and the angular one of Thomas Jefferson, his political opponent, the brilliant Alex- ander Hamilton and the intriguing Aaron Burr, Ben Franklin, who never contradicted any one, and Gouv- [-] [77] Philip Freneau erneur Morris, who found fault with every one except General Washington, the refined Chancellor Living- ston and that rock of sense, John Jay, George Clinton, the anti-Federal governor, and John Adams with royal- istic tendencies, John Morin Scott, the versatile lawyer, and William Bradford, the first public printer of New York, Hugh Gaines, the champion of the free press, and his insatiable satirist, Philip Freneau ; these, and many others perhaps as well known, found ample subject for present discussion and future conjecture. Here Washington was received upon his arrival in the city for the inaugural ceremonies. The Chamber of Commerce held here its first meetings, and the insurance business was started within its walls, as was also the first bank of New York. The compilation of a city directory, " the size of a Westminster Cate- chism," was herein essayed, and the " Loyal Sons of St. Andrew " and the " Grand Lodge of Free Masons," as well as many other associations, held their meetings inside its doors ; but with the removal of the national government to Philadelphia its sun sank to rise no more. The year 1686 was a marked one in the little colony. The mother country had seemed to awaken to the fact that its infant, and future prodigy, was still acting under the seal of Holland ; and forthwith a larger and more elaborate one was granted it. The same year Governor-General Dongan, who had ac- corded a kind reception to the Huguenots since 1683, deemed it necessary to extend the city limits to meet the requirements of the increased population ; he therefore ordered a survey of the northern boundary of the settlement, and a removal of its walls to a more remote locality. Hitherto the line of the present Wall Street had been defined by a palisaded work erected as a means of defence against the Indians; it extended the entire 'The hi Revolution width of the islan. che shipyard of Rip Van Dam, now compriseu ^ Trinity churchyard, but at that time the western Hmit of the island, to " Bucther's Pen," adjoining the river on the eastern limit. At the head of Broadway was a large gate, which was closed every evening by the city watch; and nearer the river on the eastern side was another, called the "Water Gate," through which ran the road to the ferry to Breucklin, now Pearl Street. Beyond this gate stood the ferry-house, by the door of which hung a tin horn ; any one desiring to cross, by winding the horn, would summon a boatman to conduct him to the opposite shore, for the moderate sum of one-half cent. In many places the works had fallen down ; which rendered the duty of closing the gates at night quite a nominal one; except that the fact of doing so gave the inhabitants a certain sense of security ; which was a great thing in itself The guns too had disappeared, and the ditches and trenches were in a ruinous condition. By the governor's orders, the palisade was removed to the present line of Chamber Street, running from the river bank on the west side to the old Ferry house on the east side, now Catherine Street ; at every short distance a block-house was placed. The line of the old palisade was laid out into a street, which took its name from the wall that had once occupied its place. The streets, that same year, were paved, and they were also lighted by means of lanterns suspended from every seventh house ; and a watch patrolled them all the night, who sang out the hours as they passed. The city limits were at that time more circum- scribed than at the present ; Greenwich Street then formed the western boundary, and Pearl Street the eastern one. All ground beyond these streets has been made by filling in. {i9\ Phil,, ■■* Recently, in excavating 1^ er part of Front Street, the ribs of a vessel we , ^^arthed ; they were thought by some to have been tnose of the " Morning Star," a powder ship blown up in the harbor August 7, 1778. This fact goes to prove the encroachment of the city upon the water limits. The French refugees were relegated to the eastern side of Broadway below Wall Street, and in the vi- cinity of the "Bucther's Pen," this being an unfavored part of the city, where the laboring portion of the community dwelt, and there were many unused lots. The frequent Indian incursions had caused the settlers to centre around the fort to such an extent as to endanger its safety; so much so that certain offi- cials complained to the home government that it might be easily scaled by placing ordinary-sized lad- ders upon the surrounding houses. This old tort deserves a word tor itself, it beinoj the first and oldest structure of the settlement ; and, accord- ing to the author already quoted, " one of the best Pieces of Defence in the north parts of America." I am inclined, however, to the opinion that Mr. Lamothe would have said of it the same as he said of an old fort on the Jersev side of the river, "It is no great things." This venerable piece of Dutch antiquity, that was destined never to hand down its name to our republi- can times, — indeed, to bear none for any great length of time, — was erected in the year 16 14 by the Nieu Amsterdamers as a defence from the attacks of the Indians. It is described as a mere palisaded work, but its form and dimensions have not been stated; it went bv the name of Fort Manhattan un- til 1626, when its increase in extent, and number ot inhabitants, caused a more substantial work to be con- structed, which upon completion was called Fort Am- sterdam. It is most probable that the plan of De [ 20 ] The Poet of the Revolution Razieres was not carried out to the full extent of his designs, as we find Governor Stuyvesant alleging, as an excuse for ceding it so easily to the English, that it was an untenable place, and not fit to bear an assault from European firearms. I'he walls, furthermore, on its northern and northeastern part, although much higher than those of its other sides, were, nevertheless, lower than the ground beyond. So much higher was the latter, he added, that people sitting on it could see the very soles of the shoes of those who might be standing on the esplanade, or bastions of the fort. In- deed, its walls for some eight or ten years were merely ramparts of earth, from eight to ten feet high. The buildings within it, occupied by the officers of the gar- rison, were composed of planks, or bark only, with roofs of reeds. In 1633 Governor Van Twiller came to Nieu Am- sterdam invested with full power to better this state of things. Under his administration a guard-house and barracks were constructed, and a wind-mill erected for grinding the grain for the garrison. A substantial brick house took the place of the former governmental building, which lasted during the successive administra- tions of the Dutch dynasty. The condition of the walls of the fort, however, does not seem to have been improved, as we find the governor in his Council of 1647 deliberating as to the advisability of having them repaired. This was to be accomplished by means of " stones laid in mortar to make of it a lasting work ; " and for this purpose it was suggested that every male inhabitant between the ages of sixteen and sixty should devote twelve days of labor in the year; or give instead, the sum of eighty cents per day. Within the fort and adjoining the gubernatorial mansion there stood a stone church of peculiar struc- ture, consisting of two peaked roofs with a steeple be- i2l\ Philip Freneau tween them. Beyond this edifice stood the prison, and further on the guard-house, barracks, etc. These buildings occupied the eastern side of the fort ; on the western side was the gate, defended by four small brass cannon. On the southwest bastion of the fort, at the junc- tion of the present State and Stone streets, stood the windmill and also a large flagstaff, upon which floated the colors of the "Privileged West India Company" whenever a vessel might appear in sight. By the river outside the fort stood the gallows and whipping-post. The governors varied in their way of living as well as in their manner of entertaining, — these being influenced to a great extent by their former social position in the mother country. As each incumbent furnished the gubernatorial mansion himself, it varied considerably in appearance under each administration. At times the state carriage with gay livery would drive in and around the fort, and the evenings were enlivened by music from the band, and other entertainments. The fashionable part of the community resided along the lower part of Broadway facing Bowling Green, or on the environs of the fort. In 1664 the fort passed into the hands of the Eng- lish, and was called by them Fort James, in honor of the Duke of York, and a battery was added by the river. The interior was likewise greatly improved, and the mansion rebuilt. In 1673 the Dutch regained possession of it, and its name was changed to that of William Henrick, which name it bore for an entire year. Under Governor Andros the name was changed again to Fort James. This governor erected an armory between the mansion and church ; also a stockade around the exterior to pro- tect it from wild animals. In 1683 Thomas Dongan, an Irish Catholic, for- merly Lieutenant Governor of Tangiers, and afterwards \32\ The Poet of the Revolution Earl of Limerick, was appointed governor of the colony. Dongan was a highly accomplished gentleman, upright in all his dealings, and firm and judicious in his policy. His strict integrity won the affection of the people, and caused him to be one of the most popular of all the royal governors. Governor Dongan's first act upon entering his ad- ministration was to summon the freeholders to the fort to elect representatives to meet him in council, which resulted in giving to the colony its first Legis- lative Assembly. This Assembly was to consist of the governor, ten councillors, and seventeen repre- sentatives chosen by the people, and its first act was to give to the province its first Charter of Liberties. By this charter it was decreed that the supreme legis- lative power should be permanently vested in the General Council and people, met in general assembly. Second : that each freeholder and freeman might vote for representatives without any restriction being laid upon his vote. Third : that no freeman should be punished save by the judgment of his peers, and that all trials should be held by jury. Fourth : that no tax should be imposed, under any pretence whatever, without the consent of the Assembly. Fifth : that no martial law should exist. And sixth : that no person professing belief in Jesus Christ should, at any time or in any way, be made to suffer on account of difference of opinion in matters of religion. This charter still forms the basis of the municipal rights and privileges of New York. These liberal measures caused great rejoicings, the more so because of the great unhappiness accruing from the tyranny of the late Governor Andros. In 1689, James IL having been dethroned, the fort was seized by the train-bands or militiamen ; and one of their captains was appointed to hold it until the will of the Crown should be known. Philip Freneau Leisler having been the one selected, he took pos- session not alone of the fort, but of all the preroga- tives of the administration. He changed the name of the fort to that of William, which it retained for the period of two years. During his administration, a half-moon fortification was made on the west side of the fort ; upon which seven guns were placed to defend the landings of both rivers. Leisler, having had a taste of power, desired to retain it, and refused to surrender possession of the fort when required to do so. He was in consequence immured in the very prison he once commanded, and was finally executed as a rebel. The fort now had the name Henry added to it. The old Dutch church was demolished and an English one was erected on its site. In 1702 the name was again changed to that of Anne, which it bore until the Georges ascended the throne. It never had another. In 1741 the mansion was burned down and the fire was attributed to the slave population, the famous " Negro Plot " having originated in this year. The mansion was rebuilt and an additional battery added to the fort; but in 1773, while Governor Tryon was the incumbent, the building again took fire and was entirely consumed in two hours' time. At the close of the Revolutionary War, the entire fortification was removed, to make room for the presi- dential mansion, which was planned to face Bowling Green. At that time the exterior appearance of the fort was that of a green sloping bank, about fourteen feet high ; and above it arose the walls to an additional height of twenty feet. A portion of the materials was used in building the mansion. In the early days of the colony the houses were mostly built of bricks brought from Holland. These were of diflFerent colors and set in patterns and glazed. "The Poet of the Revolution the prevailing colors being red and black. The ends of the houses always faced the streets ; the gables, ris- ing by successive steps to a point, were always sur- mounted by a weathercock. Under the projecting eaves was a " stoep," on either side of which were seats adapted to social intercourse. The lower win- dows of the houses were made quite small, as a precau- tion against the incursions of the Indians. The interiors of the houses were kept scrupulously clean ; the planed floors were well scrubbed and sanded, and traced with delicate designs ; the oaken rafters were polished and carved in devices and mot- toes ; and the doors were perforated with bull's-eyes and well scrubbed with sand. Furniture, in those days, was more for use than comfort or ornament. Chairs were high-backed and rush-bottomed, and made of red walnut or mahogany. Tables were round, and turned by means of a pivot to a fan shape and were usually placed against the wall when not in use. Couches were covered with worsted damask, and clocks extended from floor to ceiling. In the corner of the best room there usually stood a buffet with glass doors, containing, as well as display- ing, the family plate and china ; conspicuous amongst which was a huge punch-bowl, also tiny cups and sau- cers, and tea and coffee pots with silver handles and spouts. Sideboards were not introduced until after the Revolution, and were very small. Stoves were unknown ; but open fireplaces, with shining fire-dogs, gave a cheerful appearance to the rooms. Small bits of carpet, usually imported by the family, were sparingly laid in the " best room." Coaches were rare, there being for some time only four or five in the entire settlement. As time wore on and means of communication with Europe became less difflcult, the wealthier settlers were enabled to import their furniture ; and carpets began Philip Freneau to make their appearance in most of the better class of dwelHngs, which soon began to assume a degree of luxury hitherto unknown. A certain John Miller, chaplain to the fort, seems to have kept the statistics of the colony. He com- puted the number of families in New York, in the year 1692, to have been three thousand. Of these, one half, he says, were Dutch and rich, but sparing; the other half was composed of English and French, of whom the former outranked the latter in numbers, and were neither rich nor economical, and the last mentioned were poor and necessarily penurious.^ This worthy dominie depicts things from a rather dismal standpoint. He calls the inhabitants an un- godly people, who have no care for heavenly things ; but instead turn everything to drink or money to buy it with. " Even the crops," he says, " are usually such as will yield some kind of liquor, cider, perry, etc." A more cheerful writer of the gentler sex, on a visit from Boston, describes the same city as " a delightful place; where the inhabitants are courteous and hospi- table; where families interchange invitations to dinners and suppers, at which times the tables are crowded with provisions ; where the families mostly dine at one o'clock, and never later than two in the day ; and games of cards engross the post-prandial hours of the more leisurely part of the community." There were no theatres, to be sure, as in Boston ; but concerts were given by amateurs, and there were as- semblies for dancing which met in a large hall, the entrance being by subscription. As unanimous con- sent from all the members was necessary to secure a membership, the affair was very select. At these as- semblies the stately minuet and sprightly cotillion were 1 The West India Company incorporated Nieu Amsterdam as a city m 1653, and modelled its government after that of Amsterdam. \26^ The Poet of the Revolution the order of the evening, the latter dance having been introduced by the French. Marriages and funerals were public ; but notes of invitation to them were issued. The funerals were followed by long processions on foot, as no public conveyances were used prior to the year 1789, and very few families owned a "leathern conveniency " as Robert Murray styled his carriage. Without a doubt the French refugees bore a promi- nent part in the great change in the colony, and they undoubtedly infused new life into its veins. As we have said, the Dutch were a slow people. They were noted for the slowness, perseverance, and the plodding tenor of their lives; they had got into a groove and they steadily persevered in it. Their social life had always been simple, domestic, and unostentatious. The English were formal, and held strict ideas of caste, which consisted of a lower, middle, and upper class ; the barriers separating each were impregnable and insurmountable. Some of the wealthier Dutch families held aloof from strangers, and formed a dis- tinct class by themselves ; but the majority met the British officers and attaches at public entertainments ; and after a time adopted their idea of caste. The Huguenots were naturally romantic, vivacious, and chivalric; and, freed somewhat from the over- shadowing vigilance of their founder's spirit, and hav- ing no party feeling like the others, they formed, as it were, a bond of union between them. The original settlers, finding no reason for alarm at the inroad upon their hospitality, and shaken out of the narrow groove in which the course of their existence had formerly run, could not but acknowledge the beneficial effect of the leaven from France. Im- mediately upon their arrival, the Huguenots had commenced to ply their industries, and very soon that Philip Frencau portion of the city which, through force of circum- stances, they had been compelled to accept — the vicinity of Bucther's Pen, it having, in all probability, moved away with the city's limits — gave evidence of their thrift and consequent prosperity. Moreover, the first destitute refugees had been fol- lowed in course ot time by others ; who had been more fortunate in bringing with them some of their patri- mony. Nearly every ship of those that arrived once a month from England brought over families of wealthy, and even noble ancestry. The refugees ot the better class had mostly eno;ao;ed in mercantile or commercial pursuits. They had erected comfortable and even handsome dwellings, and the elegance and refinement of their private life caused the aristocracy amongst the Dutch and English to wel- come them to their entertainments, and to take pleas- ure in being entertained by them. The style of architecture likewise had greatly im- proved. Pearl Street, at that time the first one west of Broadway, and which between State and Whitehall streets was extremely narrow, contained some hand- some dwellings. At Coenties Slip stood the municipal buildings, up to the time of their removal to \Vall Street, in the early part of the eighteenth century. There, also, stood a celebrated inn for the reception of visitors to the city, this spot having been chosen on account of the exceeding beautv of its prospect, and its aristocratic surroundings. At the slip. Pearl Street curved to the north, widen- ing considerably at Hanover Square ; it also changed its name at different stages in its course, assuming first that of Dock Street, then Hanover Square, Queen and finally Magazine Street. On this street the gable ends ceased to face the street, and " stoeps " and benches yielded to roof [ -'hich a piece was sung, the refrain being "to-morrow, to-morrow." The general, under- standing Fnglish but imperfoctlv, supposed tiie song was composed in his honor and the refrain to be the repetition of his name ; he consequently thought it obligatory to acknowledge the mark of respect. The audience were consequentlv astonished by seeing him rise and bow most respect- fully on all sides as often as the refniin was repeated. Many of them did not know the illustrious man by sight. « Mrs. Julius G. Caryl. The Poet of the Revolution In 1732 walks were laid out in Bowling Green, and bordered with shade trees ; it then took the place of a modern park. Shortly after, however, fashion changed its location to Pearl street, and thus began its march up town which it continues to the present time. \3r^ Chapter Third ALTllOUliH ;i French congregation had been established in the early days of the colonv, it had ceased to exist before the year 1678 ; or that in which the Rev. Peter Daille, the first min- ister ot' whom we liase any record, began to hold French services. It is not probable that the first con- gregation had any distinct edifice, as Mr, Daille was obliged to make use of the old church in the fort ; he holding his services between those of the Dutch in the forenoon, and the English in the afternoon. In the year 1687 the Rev. Pierre Peiret arrived amongst a band ot refiigees, with the intention of ministerino; to their spiritual interests. As their number was constantlv increasing, it was deemed fit- ting, and even necessary that thev should have a church for themselves. Mr. Peiret consequentlv proceeded to erect a small building on Marketfield Street. It was a verv humble beginning, certainlv, as its entire length was only forty-eight feet nine inches, bv a front width of twentv-seven feet seven inches. A passao;e taken oft' from the width rendered the greater part of the building onlv twenty-five feet wide. Upon Leisler's usurpation of the administration, the Huguenots divided into two parties; one of these beino; headed bv Mr. Peiret, the other by Mr. Daille. The former partv opposed Leisler's adminis- tration ; but the latter favored it to such a degree as to endanrjer his adherents in their efforts to have him released from prison, and saved from death bv execution. Partv feelino; ran so h\fy\\ that the French cono;reg:i- tion never aoniin became thorouL^hlv united. The Poet of the Revolution After Leisler's death, Mr. Daille removed to Bos- ton ; and it is probable that his representation of the state of affairs in the New York congregation helped in a great measure to cause the misunderstanding between Mr. Gabriel Bernon and the French con- gregation in that city. The colony by this time, counted some two hun- dred families; and, although all of them had not located in New York city, sufficient had done so to cause the population to be about one-fourth French. Before Governor Dongan's withdrawal from the administration, the refugees had petitioned him for the right of free trade in the colonies; and he, having for- warded the petition to the king, had received a favor- able answer. In 1689 the administration had devolved upon Richard Coole, Earl Bellemont; who, upon assuming control of the colony, sided with the Leislerites or people's party ; thus rendering himself very unpopular with Mr. Peiret and the majority of the French con- gregation. This unpopularity was increased by the belief that he had misrepresented some matters, thereby injuring their interests with the Board of Trade. So bitter was their feeling, that he found it necessary to take some means of conciliating them, to regain their support; which he recognized as very necessary for the success of his administration, the French having become important factors in the colony, by the rapid increase of their numbers. Being on intimate terms of friendship with Gabriel Bernon, the founder of the Huguenot colony in New Oxford, Massachusetts, Bellemont thought to gain the support of Mr. Peiret's party through his influence. Inviting him, therefore, to New York for the osten- sible purpose of consulting with him about matters relating to the Crown, he laid before Bernon the opposition he experienced from the French congrega- Fhilip FrcHcau tion ; causing it to appear like rebellion against the king. JVlislcd bv bis representations, and acting in good faith, Hernon endeavored to become a mediator between the two parties ; and for this purpose met Mr. Peiret and the principal members of the dis- art'ected congregation. Expressing his deep regret for the feeling existing between the several nationali- ties and the administration, he urged the French con- gregation to cultivate a more kindly feeling. To his exhortations they replied that they would prefer to cjo to Mississippi than to live under Belle- mont's authority. Bernon, now fully convinced of their disafl'ection, returned to Boston chagrined at his want of success in his pacific endeavors. Before leaving New York, however, he essayed one more attempt to remedy matters. Penning a letter full of reirret at their conduct and expressive of his hopes for their amendment, he let't it with his host to be given to Mr. Peiret after his own departure. The minister, as well as the congregation, conscious that they had given no just cause for offence in the bee;inning, and that the tault lav rather on the part of the governor, waited upon the latter in a body, and, laving before him the subject of their grievance, pro- tested their innocence. Bellemont, like a shrewd politician, recognizing his mistaken way of gaining his end, strove to pacify them. Disowning his share in the transaction, he left Bernon to bear the brunt of their displeasure as having niisinterpreted the sentiments of the governor towards them. But notwithstanding his fair face in the matter, Bellemont was greativ displeased with the Hugue- nots ; and he took the petty way of revenging himself by suppressino; the aiuiual stipend granted by the government for the support of the minister. I J/] "The Poet of the Revolution The bitterness between all parties only terminated at the death of BcUcmont in 1701. Gabriel Bernons letter to the Consistory of the French Church in New Tork^ i6(j(j. Ni;w York 25'" Murs, 1699. Messieurs, Premier, partir, dc ccttc Villc, Jc mc trouvc oblige commc etaiit tous freres Refugie/-, de vous dire, t which settlement he was one of the most prominent members. Pierre's grandson, and Alexandre's nephew, Louis, as wc have already stated, came to Boston with his uncle, Gabriel Bernon, and his other relatives, |aci|ue Ou Pont and the l*'aneuils. Louis remained sometime in Boston carrying on business between that cit\ and southern parts under the name ot Lmiis Allaire ^ Co. 1 K^ afterwards removed to New ^ ork City where he dieil ot a lingering illness. Andre b'aneuil located in Boston, of which city he became a prominent member. 11 is descendant Peter b'aneuil was the finmder of the building bearing his name, and ^nen bv him to the cit\ tor a town hall and market. in this buildmi;, loc.ited on Merchants Row and l*\meuil Mall Square, were held all the town- meetings during the dark ilavs preceding the Revolu- tion which inspired and kept alive the spirit of liberty. Benj.imin settled in New York City, from which place he exported goods \o London, ' Ihis'ucnots ii\ .VincMiiM, U.iird. I /./ 1 T*he Poet oj the Rcvolulion In 1707 the mate of ;i sloop that, had been captured hy a I'rench privateer while on its way to Kngland, set the report afloat that the Frencfi inhabitants fjf New York, were plf)tting for the capture of that city |jy the I'Vench ; and that Captain Benjamin Kancuil bore a prrjrninent part in the matter. Also that they were in correspondence with (he ImcikIi government to that efTect. The I ((iguenots, upon hearing the '.lander, addressed a petition to llis I^xceilency Lord ('ornbury, recjuest- ing that the mate, Morris Newinhuysen, as well as any r>ther person implicated in the slander, might be exan)ined ; and if it was found (hat ;i.ny one had given just foundation for the re[)or(, he shoiild be punished and the innf)cent freed from suspicion. I he j)etition was headed: — A I' ull & Just discovery of ihc weak & slender founclafion of a mf)st Pernicious Slander Raised against the French Protestant Rcfugcen Jnhabitin^^ ific Province of New York genrraliy l)ijt more particularly afferitinpr, (Japt. HcMJarnin I'aneijil persrx) of considc-rahle note anjo/igsl them 'I'he captain of the vessel, John Van Rrugh, testi- fied that the mate had told him that a br>atswain found some letters on board of the sloop which were ad- dressed to Prance under cover tr> persons in England. That the contents of the letters were to the effect tfiat the French would find the condition of things in New York in great disorder if they chose to avail them- selves of it. That upon questioning the said mate as to his knowledge of the writers of said letters, he said there were no names signefj f)tit that tin; handwriting in one letter resembled that of Captain Benjamin \.45\ Philip Freneau Faneuil. The mate being sworn, made in effect the same statement. Whereupon the governor issued the following proclamation : — At a council held at Fort Anne in New York the 4th day of March 1707-8. Present His Excellency Edward Viscount Cornbury Rip Van Dam ) ^ John Barberie ) ^ Thomas Wenham \ " ' Adolph Phillipse \ ^ His Excellency and council having considered the Deposi- tions of Maurice Newenhuysen and John Van Brugh con- cerning a Letter writ from hence to France, and taken in the sloop Constant Abigal, giving some account Cas is said) of the condition of this place, do declare unanimously, That they do not think that there is any ground to suspect Capt. Faneuil of holding correspondence with France nor to prosecute him here on the aforesaid Depositions By Order of His Excellency in Council Geo. Clarke. Another petition was laid before the governor, re- questing that his secretary should provide the Hugue- not congregation with a copy of the " minits and Entries " relative to the search and inquiry, along with the opinion of the governor and his council, and also a license for the printer to imprint the same ; that their reputation might thereby be vindicated, which was granted. The signers of the two petitions were Stephen D'Lancey, Elias Nezereau, Abraham Jouneau, Thomas Bayeux, Elias Neau, Paul Droilet, Auguste Jay, Jean Cayale, Benjamin Faneuil, David Cromelin, Jean Auboyneau, Francis Vincent, and Alexandre Allaire.^ Although many other names of the refugees are of sufficient interest to insert here, we have only selected from them such names as belonged to relatives of the family of Freneau. ^ Doc. Hist. N. Y., vol. lii. "The Poet of the Revolution The Huguenots, having sold their diminutive church in the year 1703, were authorized by an Act of the Legislature to purchase a building lot, and the site selected was that on the northeast corner of King^ and Nassau streets. In the following year they erected a stone edifice with a tower in the rear. Sir Henry Asshurst presented a bell to be hung in it.^ Oyer the portal of the church was a tablet bearing the in- scription : "I'Eglise du St. Esprit Gall : Prot : Reform : fundat 1704: Peritus Reparat 1741." This old church, for the first hundred years of its existence, was the place of worship for the Huguenot families of New York and environs. Those who had settled in New Rochelle also worshipped in it, al- though this act of piety obliged them to leave their homes before light, in order to reach it before services commenced. Tradition points to an old building one and a half stories high, which stands near the Kingsbridge about a mile to the northward of Crosskeys tavern, or the place where it once stood, which bore for its sign a blue bell, from which it took its name. This it de- clares was the veritable place of rest where these men, of sterner stuff than now, were wont to halt over night on their weekly journeys from New Rochelle to New York for the sabbath services. In the year 1724 some defection on the part of the minister gave great displeasure to the consistory and a part of the congregation, who consequently gave him his dismissal. He and the remaining portion of the congregation resisted ; and the matter was laid before the governor, who decided in favor of the minister, and he was retained. This proved to be very prejudicial to the interests of the church, as most of the congregation left it for either the established 1 Pine St. ^ This old bell is now in New Rochelle. \47\ Philip Freneau church or that of the Dutch. It was consequently neglected and became sadly in need of repair. In 1812, Bishop Hobart, of Trinity Church, offered to have the Huguenot church thoroughly repaired and set upon a firm footing, if the minister and congrega- tion would enter the Episcopal communion and use its liturgy. The parties agreed to this proposal and the edifice was repaired, and a fair congregation seated. The old church was totally destroyed in the great fire of 1776, but had been rebuilt. It has since, changing its liturgy, removed to West Twenty-second Street, New York City. \48\ Chapter Fourth ALMOST two centuries have rolled on their course since Andre Freneau, the founder of the family in America bade farewell to the quaint old city of La Rochelle in France to face the shores which were thenceforward to be his home. The pitiless hands of time and fire have obliterated nearly every trace of his existence. The family rec- ords, along with much that was valuable in the way of letters and manuscripts, perished in the flames that consumed the family residence of Philip Freneau at Mount Pleasant (now Freneau) in Monmouth County, New Jersey, in the year 1818. One old relic, piously rescued from the relentless flames, remains, and mutely seems to say, " I alone have escaped to tell you." This heirloom in the form of a Bible, published in Geneva in the year 1587, has been in the Freneau family, perhaps before, but certainly ever since the year 1590. The first record on its time-worn pages tells us that it was in that year it began its journey from father to son, as was the custom in the Huguenot families in France. It alone remains to tell us of the hands it has passed through, until the present time, when, for want of male heirs, it has come into the possession of a great-granddaughter of Philip Freneau, the Poet of the Revolution. Its record runneth thus : — Ce livre fut donne par Philip P. Fresneau a son unique fils Jacque. Janvier 3^ 1590. De Jacque Fresneau a son second fils Jacque Fresneau Janvier i*'"^ 1605^ M [ 49 ] Philip Freneau De Jacque Fresneau a son second fils Thomas Fresneau Janvier i'* 1630. De Thomas Fresneau a son frere Jean. Janvier 1653 De Jean Fresneau a son fils Andre Fresneau mon second Janvier i'^ 1680 De And. Fresneau a son second fils Andre Fresneau Jan. i^^ 1702 De Andre Fresneau a son second fils Pierre Fresneau Jan. I'* 1725 De Pierre Fresneau a son premiere fils Philip Fresneau Jan. 2^ 1752 (O S) Philip Morin PVeneau revolt ce livre de son pere Pierre Freneau. Philip Morin Freneau departed this life Dec. iS'** 1830. aged 80 yrs. 11 mo. 5c 13 days. It is a remarkable coincidence that its first and last possessors of the name of Freneau should have borne the name of Philip, and that of its nine owners they should be the only ones that bore that Christian name. This Bible, being a Protestant version, was expatri- ated along with its owners. The family of de Fresneau belonged to La Ro- chelle, once famous in the history of the Huguenots — now so changed in their regard. This name, we are told, was of some note amongst the Rochellais, but how it happened that its members escaped the fate of so many of their compatriots, we are not told ; the flames have guarded their secrets well. That the family residence of Andre the refugee was named " Mont Plaisant " is the only fact of transatlan- tic days that has been transmitted to his descendants. It must have been a dreary place, that La Rochelle, and like a city of the dead to those remaining there like the grapes left from the vintage ! How all things around them must perforce have brought up sad memories of those who had once lived and loved amongst them, but were now wanderers on the face of the earth. \50\ 'The Poet of the Revolution There was la Lanterne,^ in which Gabriel Bernon and so many others had been imprisoned; and not far from it stood the former dwelling of Pierre Jay. The residence of Ester Le Roy still faced the king's palace, but the voice of Ester was no longer heard within its walls. Of the Bernons, one alone was left in the old mansion, so veiled in mystery, and in which the remain- ing Huguenots met for their secret services. The dwell- ings of the Allaires and Du Fonts, even if not entirely without occupants, yet lacked some of the former members of their families, who were now numbered amongst the aliens of the land of their birth. There were yet to be seen the old Scriptural inscrip- tions, or verses from Marot, over the small, plain doorways that gave to the street, but opened inwardly into residences in which evidences of wealth, refine- ment, and elegance met the eye. The narrow, crooked streets, where formerly the tokens of recognition were so frequently interchanged, were peopled with strange faces. No wonder, then, that hearts should sicken and desires awaken to leave these sadly suggestive spots, — and that Andre Fre- neau should bid good-bye to his native land. We may imagine the sentiments he experienced as the sombre towers of la Lanterne and Saint Nicolas faded from his view, and the receding shores of the isles of Re and Oleron told him that he was hence- forth a stranger to the land of his fathers. We would infer from his age at the date of his death that at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, ^^ ^^^ but ten years of age, and from the fact of the ancient Bible having been pre- sented to him in the year 1702 it would seem like a parting gift from his father. ^ La Lanteme was built for a lighthouse, but was used as a prison during the persecution of the Huguenots. [5/] Philip Freneau It is most probable that he first went to England, and from there directed his course to the port of Bos- ton, but we do not hear of him in the new world until the year 1705. In this year rumors of copper being discovered in the township of Suffolk, Connecticut, caused the pro- prietors in that locality to appoint a commission to in- stitute a search, which proved successful. The news travelled to Boston and caused some capitalists there to interest themselves in excavating. The land had been the hunting ground of Indians, and being unclaimed property the proprietors of the town of Simsbury assumed its control, and leased the ground to some private individuals as well as com- panies. Andre Freneau proceeded thither and, leasing a mine, began to excavate. According to the laws regulating the colony, smelt- ing of ore was prohibited ; therefore, loading a vessel, Freneau shipped it to London. The ship was cap- tured by a French cruiser, and his enterprise resulted in total loss. So great were the disadvantages attend- ing mining at that time, it is not surprising that Fre- neau, in the year 1707, relinquishing all hopes of realiz- ing any profit from his enterprise, left the mining district and turned his thoughts to the city of New York, where Benjamin Faneuil had already commenced commercial business.^ It is not certain whether Louis Allaire preceded or followed him to that city. Upon arriving in New York Andre engaged in the shipping business, and also acted in the interests of the " Royal West India Company of France," in which he was associated with Etienne Delancey, Auguste Jay, Benjamin Faneuil, Rene Het, and others. ^ This mine was afterwards converted into a prison called Newgate, and was the first state prison in Connecticut. The excavations served for the safe keeping of the convicts. The prison was afterwards removed to Weth- ersfield, and the mine is now used as a show place. It retains the name of Copper Hill. \52\ The Poet of the Revolution On the seventeenth of June in the year 17 lo, Andre married Marie, the eldest daughter of Pierre Morin, or Morine, whose name appears as the head of a family in the records of the Church of St. Esprit. He was the maternal grandfather of John Morin Scott, the promi- nent Whig lawyer, of whom we will speak hereafter. After his marriage, Andre and his young wife, who had just entered her seventeenth year, resided on lower Broadway facing Bowling Green, which was at that time the aristocratic part of the city, and it is said he entertained in considerable style. His name ap- pears in the records of the French Church as the head of a family, and an ancien of the church. It had always been the custom in the temple, or principal religious edifice, of the Huguenots, for the anciens, or elders, to have, along with the consistoire, prominent seats reserved for them during the services. In the mother country, the consistory was composed only of the pastors of the churches in a certain district, and one ancien chosen from each congregation, to rep- resent it in the assembly. As such members were charged with the oversight of the flock and its tempo- ralities, as well as their spiritual interests, the oflice was one of considerable responsibility, as well as honor. In New York, there being but one congregation, the elders formed the consistory. They were elected every three years. In the year 17 13, a robbery having been committed in Trinity Church, of which the Rev. Mr, Vesey was rector, the minister and consistory of the Church of St. Esprit, fearing a like sacrilege, presented a petition to the governor that the perpetrators should be appre- hended and brought to justice. The petition being of no great length, and its quaintness amusing, we will insert it. We have failed to find any method amongst the colonial writers gen- erally, whether English, French, or Dutch, for the use \53\ Philip Frcncau of capitals, consequently we are almost led to think that such letters were thrown promiscuously amongst the type, finding, wherever they chanced to lodge, " a local habitation and a name." However, as we never remember to have found them in the middle of a word, there mav have been some rule to govern such a contingency. It would not be surprising if this promiscuous and e;enerous use oi big letters first caused Lindley, the son of Robert Murrav, proprietor of the " leathern con- veniency " of colonial davs, to project his grammar. Address of the Minister and Elders of the French Church in New Tork. To THE HoNN^^^ Her Majesties Councell for the Province of New York. Wee the Alinisters ^ Elders ot the Reformed Protestant french Church within the cittv oi new york cannot sufficiently express our abhorrance of that Wicked, and Sacrileges Fact, committed the Night Between Tuesday and wednesdav Last, by some Impious Persons in Trinity Church within this Cittv : Being a structure built and dedicated to the service of God, the discovery and Punishment of wich hainous crime, wee estime ourselves, so deeply concerned in, to the end it may deterr others from attempting the Like on that, our, or any other Building sett apart for divine worshipp within this citty ; That wee humbly take Leave to offer to your honnours, That iff" his Excellency, or your honn^''* board, shall think fitt to Issue a proclamation with a Reward to the Person that shall make a discovery of the said wicked offense ; we shall Cheerfully contribute the sume of tenn Pound towards an Incouragement for the Person that shall make such a discover)-, and in duty bound wee shall pray, 5:c. Lewis Rou.\. Minister of the French Church in N. Tork John Barbarie Elder Louis Carre anden New York i6th Jean Laport ancien February i~W Andre Fresneau anden lS4] The Poet of the Revolution The date of Andre's marriage is not recorded in the register of the French church, which is explained by the fact of the frequent interruptions in its services. Marriages and baptisms were frequently performed for the Huguenots in Trinity or in the Dutch church. Andre's marriage does appear in the register of the Dutch church, but the baptisms of all his children are registered in the French church, and in the following order : — Bapteme. Auiourdhui dimanche 29* de Juillet 1711 mons'' Louis Rou notre pasteur a Baptise Andre Fresneau ne le 24^ de ce mois a 3 heures du matin fils de Andre Fresneau et de Marie Morin presente au S' Bapteme aprest la priere du soir par la S' Morin et Judith Jamain Parein et mareinne. L. Rou Pasteur And^ Fresneau Pierre Morin Judith Jamain Bapteme. Aiourdhuy dimanche 8* fevrier ^']W aprest la priere du soir monsieur Louis Rou a Baptise Marie Fresneau nee le 4™ de ce mois fiUe d'Andre Fresneau et de Marie sa femme presentee au S^ Bapteme par le dit Andre Fresneau et Marie Morin Parein et marienne. L. Rou min. And^ Fresneau Marie Morin Baptesme. A la nouvelle york de g'"' d'octobre 17 15 au- iourdhuy dimanche aprest la priere du soir mons' Louis Rou a Baptise Marguerite Fresneau nee de 8= de ce mois fille de Andre Fresneau et de Marie son Epouse presente au S' Bap- teme par Alexandre Allaire et Marguerite Morin parain et mareine. And^ Fresneau L. Rou ministre Alexander Allaire Marguerite Morin Bapteme Le samedy ii°" Janvier 171^ avant mydy Est ne Pierre Fresneau fils d'Andre Fresneau et de Marie Morin bap- [55] Philip Freneau tise par Mons. Louis Rou en sa maison la dimanche 19* du meme mois presente au S* Bapteme par Mons'' Rene Het et Mad. Ester Charron Parain et maraine. Andre Fresneau L. Rou Pasteur Rene Het Ester Charron Bapteme. A la nouvelle york ce ii™^ de Mars I7i| Au- iordhui mercredy aprest la priere du matin Mons. Louis Rou a Baptise Thomas Louis Fresneau ne le 5"^^ de ce mois fils de Mons'' Andre et Marie Fresneau presente au S* Bapteme par Mons"" Thomas Bayeux et Mad'^ Ester Morin Parrain et mar- raine. Andre Fresneau L. Rou ministre Thomas Bayeux Ester Morin Bapteme, a la Nouvelle york ce 24^ de Juillet 1720 Auiour- dhuy dimanche aprest Taction du soir Mons"" Moulinars a Bap- tise Francois Fresneau ne le 2^ de ce mois fils de monsieur Andre Fresneau et de Marie son Epouse presente au S' Bap- teme par monsieur Louis Allaire et Mad^ J^^y Morin parain et marrainne. Andre Fresneau J. J. Moulinars Pasteur Louis Allaire Judith Morin We find the name of Andre Fresneau mentioned in the Journal of John Fontaine, a kinsman of the cele- brated Commodore Maury. As this Journal depicts the condition of New York City, as well as its society, at the time of Mr. Fresneau's residence there, we will copy that particular portion of it. A few words as to its author may not be out of place as an introduction. The family of John Fontaine, or de La Fontaine, were Huguenot refugees who left their native land at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, tak- ing up their residence in England. At the age of sev- enteen, and in the year 17 10, John de La Fontaine received the appointment of ensign in Lord Shaw's \56\ CHL'RCH DU ST. ESPRIT Rear View, 1776 The Poet of the Revolution regiment of infantry. After serving three years in the British army, he retired from the service and in the following year emigrated to America, settHng in the State of Virginia. In 17 16 Fontaine visited New York in company with Mr. Michael Kearney, a member of the family of Kearneys of New Jersey, combining business pur- poses with those of pleasure, as he was desirous of seeing something of the country of his adoption. The Journal commences with his departure from the English coast, but we give only that portion which relates to the family whose history we are giving. October 22d, 17 16. In the sloop at anchor under Sandy Hook. The weather was so foggy all day that we could not see the shore, nor landmarks, so we could not hoist our anchor, for this is a very dangerous bay to come up witFiout one has fair weather to see the landmarks. There are several banks and shoals of sand which are very dangerous. There is a great deal of water fowl of all sorts on these shoals. 24th. Calm weather, but such a fog that we could not see half a mile. We had a mind to go ashore, but the master and sailors were afraid that they could not find the sloop again with the boat, so we consented to remain on board. The fog is occasioned by the burn- ing the woods, for at this season the inhabitants set the woods on fire, and the Indians also about this time of the year go a fire hunting. 25th. Still at anchor, weather very foggy, so that the master will not venture up with his sloop. About twelve it cleared so that we could see the land, and we got out the boat, and the men landed us in Staten Island. We were obliged to walk about four miles, not being able to hire any horses. This island is mostly highland and rocky, and that part of the land which is good is mixed with small stones. There are some good improvements here ; the inhabitants are [57] Philip Freneau mostly Dutch ; the houses are all built with stone and lime ; there are some hedges as in England. The chief increase is wheat and cattle. They breed large horses here. About five of the clock we came to the ferry between Long Island and Staten Island, which is about one mile broad. The main body of New York River runs between these islands. We crossed the ferry and came upon Long Island to a small sort of village, where, it being late, we put up at the house of a Dutchman, one Harris Hendrick. We were well lodged and had a good supper. 26th. About eight of the clock in the morning, we hired two horses to go to New York. It is about eight miles from this ferry by land, but not near so much by water. Long Island is generally very plain ground, bears extraordinary good grass, and is an ex- cellent place for cattle. It produceth wheat and all English grain in abundance. The chief part of the inhabitants are Dutch, but there are some few French. Amongst them are several good improvements, and many fine villages ; the woods are mostly destroyed. Besides the plentiful produce of the Island, there is every advantage for fishing and fowling that can be wished. About seven o'clock we came to a fine vil- lage ^ opposite New York, and we crossed the ferry. The river is about a quarter of a mile over, and runs very rapidly ; there are good, convenient landings on both sides. As soon as we landed we went and agreed for our lodgings with a Dutch woman named Schuyler, and then I went to see Mr. Andre Fresneau at his house, and he received me very well. 27th. About nine I breakfasted at the Coffee House, and at eleven I waited upon Governor Hunter, who received me very kindly and invited me to dine with him. After dinner I walked with him about the 1 Brooklyn. "The Poet of the Revolution fort, wherein he Jives. It is a small square situated upon a height above the town, and commanding it. The one side of it fronts the harbor, and hath a small curtain and two bastions ; the land side hath but two half bastions to it, so that it is a square composed of two whole and two half bastions. There is a rave- lin toward the land that lies on one side of the gate. It is but a weak place, and badly contrived. There is a regiment here, and the Governor always hath a guard, and this is all the duty they have, which is very little. From the Governor I went to see the Mayor of the town, one Dr. Johnson, and was kindly re- ceived by him ; thence to Col. Delarty's. 28th. About eight of the clock in the morning Mr. Kearny and I hired horses and went about seven miles out of town to see one Colonel Morriss,^ who lives in the country, and is Judge or Chief Justice of this province, — a very sensible and good man. We were received well by him and remained with him all night ; and we saw a great many fine improvements that he had miade, and he showed us several rare col- lections of his own making. He lives upon the river that comes down to New York. 29th. We were invited to dine with Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Lane. After dinner I visited Mr. Fresneau and had a great deal of discourse with him about the trade of Virginia. From thence I walked round the town. There are three churches, the English, the French, and the Dutch Church ; there is also a place for the Assembly to sit, which is not very fine, and where they judge all matters. The town is compact, 1 Judge Lewis Morris, son of Richard Morris, a former captain in the Parliamentary army, who settled in Westchester County, where his son Lewis was born and resided in later life. In 1715 Lewis received a com- mission as Chief Justice for the Province of New York, which position he held until displaced for political causes by Governor Cosby. In the ex- citing public affairs of the period. Judge Morris was the leading man in the liberal party. He was subsequently Governor of New Jersey. \59\ Philip Frcneau the houses for the most part built after the Dutch manner, with the gable ends towards the street ; the streets are of good breadth. The town is built close upon the river, and there is a fine quay that reigns all round the town, built with stone and piles of wood outside. There are small docks for cleaning and building small ships. At high water the vessels come up to the quay to lade and unlade. In winter the river is frozen, sometimes all over, and abundance of ice comes down, that it often cuts the cables of ships, but it cannot hurt those near the quay. The town is built on ground that gradually rises trom the water, so it is amphitheatre like. The French have all the privi- leges that can be, and are the most in number here ; they are of the Council and of the Parliament, and are in all other employments. The chief produce of this province is beef, flour, pork, butter, and cheese, which they send to the West Indies, and sometimes to Lisbon. They drive a great trade with the northern Indians for skins and furs. There is plenty of all sorts of fish, oysters, and water-fowl. The climate is very cold in winter, a great deal of snow and frost for four months, and very hot in the latter part of the summer. 31st. At ten w-ent to the Coftee house and walked upon the Exchange, which hath pillars of wood all round, which support the roof and leave it open on all sides. I dined with Mr. Andre Fresneau and remained wdth him till four of the clock, and at six to the French Club, where they treated me. 4th Nov. 17 16. At ten I went to Mr. Fresneau, and with him to church. I returned to his house and dined with him, and at half an hour after two we went to church ao;ain. The church is very large and beautiful, and within it there was a verv f^reat congregation i;th. At ten in the morning I carried Mr. Fres- neau a memorandum of the prices ot goods. i6o\ 'The Poet of the Revolution 6th. Visited Mr. Fresneau. The Postmaster Gene- ral, Mr. Hamilton, invited me to dinner. 7th. At ten waited on Governor Hunter and drank tea with him. At four I went to the coffee house, where I met with Mr. Fresneau and at six we went to the French Club. 14th. At six we arrived at Philadelphia, a town which is situated upon rising ground on Delaware River. The inhabitants are mostly Quakers. I visited Mr. Samuel Perez and gave him Mr. Fres- neau's letter, etc. 19th. At eight of the clock set out from Mr. Patterson's, which is about sixty miles from Phila- delphia, and at twelve arrived at the Court House of the county of Kent, where we baited our horses. About three Mr. Kearny and I went to his brother's house in the neighborhood, where we put up and remained all night. 20th. It being rainy we remained where we were, and had good entertainment. This gentleman, Mr. Kearny hath a plantation and an extraordinary good tannery. It is not certain in what year the Freneau family left the French congregation. The last of their baptisms was registered in its records in the year 1720 ; consequently it was not before that date. There is no record of Mrs. Freneau's death, which occurred in the year 1721 ; but this is not a conclu- sive proof that they severed their connection with it before that date, as, in looking over the register, we find only one interment recorded during the entire forty years of Mr. Rou's pastorate, except the burials of his own five children ; these are most carefully noted. Andre's death occurred in the year 1725. As he was buried in the family vault of Trinity churchyard, {61 \ Philip Freneau it is probable that he joined that congregation during his Hfetime. It is not improbable that the difficulty between the minister and congregation in the year 1724 was the cause of his leaving the communion of the French Church, and joining that of Trinity, as many prominent families joined the congregations of the other churches at that time. It would seem that "Aunt Allaire" took charge of the orphaned family, as the eldest child, Andre, was only thirteen years of age at the death of his father, and the youngest, Fran9ois, only five. It also appears that she remained ever after with them, keep- ing house first for Andre, who never married, and after his death living in Mount Pleasant, New Jersey, in the home of his brother Pierre. Upon reaching man's estate Andre carried on the Bordeaux and Madeira trade. The only record we have of him is that of being witness to the marriage of his cousin, Marie Allaire, which took place in the house of her parents in the year 1754. Although this marriage occurred in the year mentioned, it was not registered in the records of the church of Saint Esprit until the year 1761. If we mistake not, only one mar- riage was registered during Mr. Rou's long pastorate. Manage. En vertu d'une Licence de M": James de Lancey Lieutenant Gouvernour dans la province de la nou- velle york et terres qui en dependant datee le 6™* Septembre 1754 et le 28™^ annee du Regne de notre legitime souverain george 24. Roy de la grande Britagne etc. Jay Beni ches mad^. Alaire, le S'H* de Septembre 1754 le mariage de Louis Pavez officier dans la Compagnie de fort George de cette ville et Marie Allaire les temoins etaient Marguerite Allaire mere de I'Epousee, Jean Morin Scott, et Andre Freno ses cousins germains et demoiselle Marie Morin grandmere de I'epousee ce que je declare et enregistre pour servir come de Besoin sera a la Nouvelle York ce y"!!* Juillet 1761. Jean Carle Pasteur. [62] T'he Poet of the Revolution A small pencil sketch, with the words, " Andrew Fresneau's House 1756. Cor. Pearl and Wall streets," which goes to prove that he lived there in that year, and a statement that he died in the same locality, are all the data we possess in regard to his later life. The house seems to have been a large and handsome one for that time, but when the family removed there from the vicinity of Bowling Green is not known ; most probably it was when the tide of fashion began its northward march. Time has obliterated the date of his death from the vault in which he was most probably buried. The fate of Andre's two sisters is very remarkable. Marie, the eldest, was two years older than Mar- guerite ; and between the dates of their deaths, which we find in an old note-book, there was an interval of precisely two years ; consequently both died at the same age, that of twenty-two years, and of the same disease, that of the heart. One died in October of the year 1736, the other in the same month of 1738. A note adds that they were both beautiful ; and that each died shortly before the time appointed for her marriage ; the one, with a son of her father's business associate, Etienne Delancey ; the other, to a member of the Desbrosses family. Pierre Freneau married Agnes Watson in the year 1748. All that we know of this lady's early life is that she was twenty years of age at the time of her marriage, and that she was related to John Fanning Watson, the antiquary. Thomas Louis died at the early age of three months, and Fran9ois married Helen Provost, a rela- tive of the Right Reverend Samuel Provost. Some writers have said the lady was his daughter, but this is not very probable, as Francois was many years older than Bishop Provost. She may have been his sister or aunt. Philip Freneau Fran9ois had no children. In Bishop Provost was united French and Dutch ancestry. His father was of Huguenot descent and his mother was Eve, daughter of Herman Bleecker. He was one of the first seven graduates of King's, now Columbia, College, New York City. His class was that of 1758. It is said that, although he was the youngest of all the graduates of that year, he carried off the honors. He afterwards entered Cambridge College, England, having for private tutor John Jebb, a scholar of great attainments, and one in favor of civil, as well as religious liberty. Provost was or- dained in King's College, Whitehall ; and, after his ordination, married the daughter of Thomas Bous- field, a wealthy Irish banker.^ Mr. Provost was appointed assistant minister in Trinity Church, but resigned in the year 1774 on ac- count of his political sentiments. He was proposed as a delegate to the Provincial Congress, but declined it, as also the offer of chaplaincy to the Convention of 1777, which met to consider the great Constitution. After the evacuation of the city by the British, in 1784, he was unanimously elected rector of Trinity Church, and was one of the Board of Regents of the University. He was appointed chaplain to the Con- tinental Congress in 1785. He received the title of D.D. from the Pennsylvania University in 1786, and in the following year went to England for his consecra- tion, which took place in Lambeth Palace. In 1789 he was chaplain to the United States Sen- ate and officiated in the services held in St. Paul's Church, New York, at the inauguration of Washing- ton as first President of the United States. He was also one of the trustees of Columbia College. He ^ Mr. Bousfield's son Benjamin vvas a member of the Irish Parliament, and wrote an able reply to Edmund Burke's celebrated work on the French Revolution. 'The Poet of the Revolution died of apoplexy in the year 1815, and was buried in Trinity churchyard. As a scholar. Bishop Provost was versed in Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and German, and conversed fluently in French and Italian. It has been said that he translated Tasso into the vernacular. His sermons were full of character and force ; he is said to have had no peer among American contempo- raries. He was so indifferent to literary reputation that he never permitted his sermons to be printed. In his funeral eulogy it was said of him that what he undertook was to be admired as glorious ; what he performed, to be commended as profitable ; and where- in he failed is to be excused as pardonable.^ Pierre Freneau resided in Frankfort Street after his marriage, and there his eldest son, Philip Morin Freneau, the poet, was born. In the year of Philip's birth, Pierre bought an estate of one thousand acres in Monmouth County, New Jersey, upon which he built a residence, naming it Mount Pleasant, after the residence of his grandfather in La Rochelle. Here he removed when Philip was in his second year, and interested himself in the care of his increas- ing family and in the improvement of the estate. Some of the trees planted by him are still standing. Most of these were locusts, which formed a grove around the house. Here all his children except Philip were born, and their names were registered in his own handwriting, thus : — Philip Morin Freneau born Jan. 2d O.S. 1752 Mary Freneau " Sept. loth 1754 Peter Freneau " April 5th 1757 Andrew Freneau " April 3d 1759 Margaret Allaire Freneau " Feb. 27th 1761 Pierre died in the year 1767, and was buried in the family vault in Trinity churchyard, along with his ^ Applcton, Philip Freneau parents and brothers and sisters. The vault has never since been opened for an interment. It is most unfortunate that, owing, first, to the Brit- ish occupancy of New York during the Revolution ; secondly, to the disastrous fire of 1776 which destroyed Trinity Church ; and thirdly, to the fact that a family burying-ground was laid out in Mount Pleasant, — the vaults of the family in the city were forgotten until it was too late to decipher the inscriptions. Would that Old Mortality had lived in those days or that there had been some other to do his work ! "Aunt Allaire" dying in the year 1779, a burying- ground was selected in a grove of locust trees, and named from that fact "Locust Grove Cemetery;" and she was laid therein. Her death was not entered in the old Bible until some years later. It is in Philip's handwriting and runs thus : — " 1779 Aunt Allaire was the first buried in the Locust Grove, on the south side of my mother's grave." Mrs. Freneau did not long remain a widow. A few years after Pierre's death she married Major James Kearny, a member of the New Jersey family of which General Philip Kearny is a descendant. It is probably not universally known that Keyport, in the northern part of New Jersey, was named from that family. It was at first called K-port, then Kear- nyport, and finally it was spelled in the way it is at present. It is a singular coincidence that Philip's stepfather should also be the grandfather of his grand- daughter's husband. Major Kearny died a few years after his marriage, and left Philip's mother again a widow. She did not marry again. Her death is thus registered in the old Bible: "Died on the i8th of October, 1817, Agnes Kearny in her ninety-first year, born of Richard and Margaret Watson in the year 1727 April the twenty- [^6] "The Poet of the Revolution third. She survived her first husband, Pierre Fre- neau, fifty years and one day ; her second, James Kearny, nearly forty-five years. She was interred in Locust Grove, the family burying-ground, on the twentieth of October. Her funeral sermon preached by Mr. Dubois from the words in Rev. chapt. 14th, verse 13." Of Philip and Peter, we will speak later on. Mary, the eldest daughter, was said by her brother Philip to be "as pure as an angel." She was said to be beauti- ful and accomplished, for those days. James Madi- son, afterwards president of the United States, and in early days a college, class, and room mate, as well as confidential friend, of her brother Philip in Nassau Hall, Princeton, told the latter, confidentially, that he admired her more than any woman he had ever seen ; and, during his vacation visits to Mount Pleasant, formed an acquaintanceship that ripened into something more on his part. He made proposals of marriage to her, but, although she admired and respected him, she preferred to lead a single life, and could never be in- duced to alter her decision. Mary lived to an advanced age, spending most of her time with her dearly loved younger sister Mar- garet, whom she speedily followed to the grave. Her brother Philip recorded her death in these words : " Mary Freneau, eldest daughter of Peter Freneau and Agnes Watson, died at Newburgh, New York State, on Thursday evening, Jan. 22d, 1829. This truly worthy woman was born in her father's house at Mount Pleasant, near Middleton Point, on the loth of September, 1754, and at the time of her decease was well advanced in her 75th year. She was virtuous and innocent as an angel, and if there is any happiness in another life for the upright she certainly enjoys it. Farewell. " By the attention and care of her relative John S. Philip Freneau Hunn, her body was interred on Jan. 24th in the New- burgh burying ground adjacent to the grave of her sister Margaret A. Hunn, who died in 1828." Andrew, the third and youngest son, died in infancy ; and Margaret, the youngest daughter, having married Mr. John S. Hunn, a resident of Newburgh, was not buried in Locust Grove. Her sister, as we have seen, faithful to her during life, was laid by her side in death. Philip has entered only two of these deaths. " My brother Andrew died of the small pox at Middletown Point in April, 1759, aged about one year. He was interred in the old burying ground near Mount Pleasant which Hendrick Schenk now owns." \68\ Chapter Fifth MONT PLEASANT, now called Freneau, is situated about ten miles north of Freehold, the seat of Monmouth County, New Jer- sey. There is no picture extant of the old mansion in its setting of locust trees ; but most likely it was built in the usual style of country houses of that period. A writer^ upon colonial times says that the country resi- dences of the landed gentry of New York and New Jersey resembled those of the large planters of the South, in that they usually had the same wide hall running through the house, the same large porticos and de- tached kitchens for summer use ; and that the condition of life was somewhat similar, for, although the broad acres of the former were usually farmed by tenants, the house was always filled with domestic slaves ; and there was the same tendency to imitate the life of the English country families, as far as the surroundings would permit. I am quite certain that in Pierre Freneau's case the latter paragraph did not hold good ; for, although he probably conformed to the architectural style of his adopted country, he still retained the French manner of life that he had been accustomed to lead in his father's house. To the northeast of the mansion rose the tree- crowned summit of what is now known as Beacon Hill ; from whose heights may be seen, to the north, the blue waters of the lower bay, and eastward, the deeper blue of the broad Atlantic. From its foot toward the south, stretch the fertile lands of New Jersey, with the historic battle-field of Monmouth 1 Mr. Eggleston, in The Century Magazine. 1^9] Philip FrcNcau in the foreground, — although at that time unstained bv the nation's blood. As a bov, it was Philip's delight to climb the rugged heights ot the old hill, and feast his eyes upon the beauties oi nature spread before him, and watch the white sails, which, like mammoth birds, hovered over the toam-crested waves. It is very prob- able that these early scenes made a lasting impression upon his vouthful mind, and gave rise to his life- long vearning tor the perils ot the deep. Did the tuture ever cast its long shadows over the beautv ot the scene, and cause the bov to draw his breath vet more quick.lv, as it to assure himself that tlie pure air of heaven was not wanting? Did it seem at times as it alreadv the heavv fetters were pressing; upon his ireedom-loving hands and teet.'' Was there ever an idea of suffering connected with the flutter , their wonted circles run." [ 76 J The Poet of the Revolution The Genius replies : — " The time shall come When these stupendous piles you deem immortal, Worn out with age shall moulder on their bases, And down, down, low to endless ruin verging, O'er-whelmed by dust, be seen and known no more. 'T was on this plain the ancient Memphis stood. Her walls encircled these tall pyramids, — But where is Pharao's palace, where the domes Of Egypt's haughty lords ? — All, all, are gone, And like the phantom snows of a May morning Left not a vestige to discover them ! " To the Traveller's question as to how the Pyramids were built, the Genius says : — "What cannot tyrants do. When they have nations subject to their will, And the world's wealth to gratify ambition ? Millions of slaves beneath their labors fainted. Who here were doomed to toil incessantly, And years elapsed while groaning myriads strove To raise this mighty tomb, — and but to hide The worthless bones of an Egyptian king." The poem closes with Time's address to the Traveller in these striking lines : — " These piles are not immortal ; This earth, with all its balls of hills and mountains, Shall perish by my hand. Then how can these, These hoary-headed pyramids of Egypt, That are but dwindled warts upon her body. That on a little, little spot of ground Extinguish the dull radiance of the sun, Be proof to death and me ! Traveler, return, There 's naught but God immortal — He alone Exists secure, when Man, and Death, and Time, V77\ Philip Freneau (Time not immortal, but a fancied point in the circle of eternity) Are swallowed up, and like the pyramids, Leave not an atom for their monument." " Is not this true poetry ? " Mr. Delancey adds. " Is it not extraordinary as the work of a youth of eighteen years? But one other American poet ever wrote anything to compare with it so early in life. Bryant wrote at nineteen his ' Thanatopsis,' and never later did he surpass that great poem." ^ In the year 1770 the soldiers in New York City cut down a liberty pole that had been erected by the band of patriots called the "Sons of Liberty." A conflict ensued in which the latter won the day. Shortly after this event the Boston massacre occurred, which created a great sensation throughout the country. As we have already said, President Witherspoon was an ardent patriot, and he left no means untried to instil into the minds of his collegians the same fire of enthusiasm that burned within him ; and his efforts met a ready response in the enthusiastic temperament of Philip, whose hatred of oppression and of England was equalled only by his passionate love of liberty and America. During his college days the young poet offered his pen on the shrine of Liberty, and vowed to ever use it in her sacred service. How well he used it, her enemies best can tell. His pen was his bayonet, and its wounds were mortal. In 177 1, the year of Philip's graduation, he composed, jointly with Hugh Henry Brackenridge, their com- mencement address, which they recited. It was entitled " The Rising Glory of America," and was written in 1 I am indebted to Mr. Edward F. Delancey for permission to reprint this fragment of the poem along with his remarks which are taken from his lecture before the Huguenot Society of America entitled " Philip Freneau the Huguenot Patriot Poet of the Revolution and his Poetry." [7th of May the " Aurora," " daughter ot the sun," with all sails spread to catch the breeze, which at startins: was adverse, passed crailv down the river, and [iob\ The Foet of the Revolution through the sixty miles of Delaware Bay, and waited for morning to round the point called by the old Swede settlers the " Point of Paradise," by the more prosaic modern Americans, Cape Henlopen. During her prog- ress down the bay an event occurred which was con- sidered by the crew a prognostic of future success, but which was, in reality, the cause of the "Aurora's" dis- aster. Overtaking a small sloop belonging to the enemy and laden with corn, the details incident to its capture prevented the " Aurora " from rounding the point the same evening, and thus caused the delay so hital to her. The morning was beautiful ; and, assisted by a favorable breeze, the cape was successfully passed, and the " Aurora " made her debut on the broad ocean, where " a sea unruffled and a sky serene " awaited her- All seemed propitious ; and spreading the sails, her prow was turned eastward, then to the southeast. The sun crossed the meridian, and a gale springing up it bore the light-hearted master and crew out of the sight of the misty line of hilltops, which seemed to sink beneath the waves. Toward afternoon, a seaman was ordered to go aloft, to see peradventure if any prey, in the form of an Knglish merchantman, might be in sight. The tar returned and reported a ship approaching very rapidly from the east; which soon became visible to all. The master used his glass, and from her top- gallant spied the English Jack ; and soon after he rec- ognized her to be the " Iris," once the " Hancock," one of the swiftest ships on the American station, and one that had made the fortunes of every one that had ever commanded her save the last; ' he had lost her in con- sequence of having put her out of trim, by starting her water while chased by the " Rainbow," commanded by Sir George Collier, who finally captured her. * Captain Manly. [107] Philip Freneau " Her lofty masts stood bending to the gale, Close to the wind was brac'd each shivering sail j Her spangled bottom seem'd in flames to glow. With all her might she strove to gain our tack, Nor strove in vain — with pride and power elate, Wing'd on by winds, she drove us to our fate. No stop, no stay her bloody crew intends. So flies a comet with its host of fiends, Nor oaths, nor prayers arrest her swift career, Death in her front, and ruin in her rear." Knowing the futility of attempting to hold their own against such odds, — the vessel carrying guns double the size of theirs, — the officer gave orders to change the course of the " Aurora " and steer for the land, their only safety lying in flight. " Struck at the sight, the master gave command To change our course, and steer toward the land — Straight to the task the ready sailors run. And while the word was utter'd, half was done; As, from the south, the fiercer breezes rise Swift from her foe alarm'd Aurora flies. With every sail extended to the wind She fled the unequal foe that chas'd behind. Along her decks, dispos'd in close array. Each at its port, the grim artillery lay, Soon on the foe with brazen throat to roar; But, small their size, and narrow was their bore ; Yet, faithful, they their destin'd station keep To guard the barque that wafts them o'er the deep, Who now must bend to steer a homeward course And trust her swiftness rather than her force. Unfit to combat with a powerful foe, — Her decks too open and her waist too low." Land appears, most welcome sight ! The Point of Paradise looms up before them ; but near and nearer presses on the foe, intent upon the "Aurora's" iio8\ The Poet of the Revolution ruin. Listen to the boatswain's prayer — it, like most such prayers, fell back upon the head of its maker : — " List, all ye powers that rule the skies and seas ! Shower down perdition on such thieves as these, Winds, daunt their hearts with terror and dismay, And sprinkle on their powder salt sea spray! May bursting cannon, while his aim he tries, Distract the gunner, and confound his eyes — May they who rule the round-top's giddy height Be canted headlong to perpetual night j May fiends torment them on a leeward coast. And help forsake them when they want it most." Freneau, in his poem entitled "The Prison Ship," from which we have been quoting, beautifully com- pares the flight of the " Aurora," and the pursuit of the " Iris," to the flight of Hector pursued by Achilles round the walls of Troy : — "The Frigate, now, had every sail unfurl'd. And rush'd tremendous o'er the watery world ; Thus fierce Pelides, eager to destroy, Chas'd the proud Trojan to the gates of Troy — Swift o'er the wave while, hostile, they pursue. As swiftly from their fangs Aurora flew." The Point of Paradise gained, all efforts to take the ill-fated vessel ashore were vain ; a sudden calm caused the sails to droop. Meanwhile the foe had advanced within range of shot, and pointed her guns. " Rang'd her black cannon, pointed on our lee. Then up she luff'd, and blaz'd her entrails dire, Bearing destruction, terror, death and fire. Vext at our fate, we prim'd a piece, and then Return'd the shot, to show them we were men." [709] Philip Freneau Night fell ; even the shoals in this sad extremity would have been a welcome risk, but — " Fate stood between, and barr'd us from the land." Already becalmed and helpless, the ebbing current bore the doomed " Aurora " into the power of her enemy, who — " Flash'd her red lightnings o'er the trembling flood." At every flash untold mischief ensued, and — " Mad for revenge, out breasts with furv glow To wreak returns of vengeance on the foe ; Full at his hull our pointed guns we rais'd, His hull resounded as the cannon blaz'd ; Through his broad sails while some a passage tore, His sides re-echo'd to the dreadful roar. Alternate iires dispell'd the shades of night — But how unequal was this daring fight! " While shouting defiance to the foe, Laboyteaux, the captain of the marines, fell staining the deck with his heart's blood. Another blast tore the shrouds, stays, and braces away ; while through the air flew the frag- ments of sails, blocks, and oars, and the " Aurora " shook from stem to stern. The elements seemed to vie with each other in working the doom of the ill-fated vessel ; earth receded from her grasp ; and the wind, rising, filled the sails of the " Iris " and blew it close and closer upon her prev ; the fire tore open her sides, into whose wounds the water gurgled to complete the work of destruction ; and slowly the doomed vessel began to sink, and there was naught left but to submit or die. "'Twas then the Master trembled for his crew, And bade thv shores, O Delaware, adieu ! — And must we vield to yon' destructive ball. And must our colors to these ruffians fall ! — [//o] 'The Poet of the Revolution They fall ! — his thunders forc'd our strength to bend, The lofty topsails with their yards descend, And the proud foe, such leagues of ocean pass'd. His wish completed in our woe at last." According to Freneau's log-book it would seem that on this voyage he was merely a passenger, and bore no active part in the ship's management. As this account has been given to the public by Mr. Weymer Jay Mills ^ great-grandnephew of Agnes Fre- neau's husband, we give the account of the capture as found in Freneau's poem, " The Prison Ship." In the log-book Freneau states that when first pursued by the " Iris" his advice to the officers had been to stand for Egg Harbor or any part of the Jersey shore, and to run the ship upon the flats rather than allow it to be taken. Why his advice was not followed, or why he was only a passenger on his own ship, it does not appear. Let the reader imagine for himself the sentiments with which the freedom-loving Freneau passed from the deck of the " Aurora" to that of the victor, and those with which he watched the waters closing over the wreckage of his ship, — for that which was left of her was but the ghost of her former self, — until the darkness covered all things with its pall. Owners of fair ships have expressed their love for them as greater far than for anything on land ; and the " Aurora " was his very own, the creation of his love, which he had dreamed of day by day as she grew into her fair proportions ; whose birth he had sung, and to whom finally he had confided his life and fortunes. Too late he regretted, for his own part, that he had not chosen death when it could honorably have been courted. In passing through the lower bay in his transfer to New York, Freneau gazed across the waters and de- ^ Revolutionary Americana, published by Wessels ^ Co. Philip Freneau scried in the distance the crest of the old hill from whose heights, as a child, he had so oftentimes watched the white-sailed vessels flitting to and fro, and longed so ardently to be in one of them ; and was it thus his desires had been fulfilled ? In one he was in- deed ; but the shackles of the captive were weighing on his hands and feet, and these he had not longed for. Arrived at the port of New York, then in the hands of the British, he was condemned to breathe the foul, infected air of the sickly hulks which were moored within sight of the very residence in which, in former years, his ancestor had resided, and in which his father had been born. Imagine all this and then blame him if you can for that spirit of acrimony that many perhaps have wondered at, thinking it far ex- ceeded its cause. An exile from the land of his fathers through the merciless tyranny of one monarch, and in fetters by that of another, is it to be wondered at that in after years he fought so strenuously against all tendency to a monarchical form of government, or the least thing that savored of it? The "Scorpion," the hulk in which he was confined, was one of the old transport vessels in which the British troops had been brought to the city. It was moored at first off the Battery, along with the "Jersey," a sixty-four-gun ship formerly employed as a store ship, the " Hunter," and others, and after- wards taken to Wallabout Bay, on the Long Island shore. These vessels were all unseaworthy and had been dismantled. " No masts or sails these crowded ships adorn, Dismal to view, neglected and forlorn. From morn to eve along the decks we lay Scorch'd into fevers by the solar ray j 'The Poet of the Revolution No friendly awning cast a welcome shade, Once it was promis'd, and was never made; No favours could these sons of death bestow, 'T was endless vengeance, and unceasing woe." As Freneau has described the treatment of the captives on the prison ships in the poem mentioned above, we will quote a few portions of it relative to his sufferings while on board the "Scorpion," and the "Hunter," the hospital ship, to which he was after- wards taken. It is an admitted fact that the sailors captured by the British during the war suffered even more than the soldiers who fell into their hands, if such a thing were possible. They were crowded together so closely, and their accommodations were so wretched, that diseases broke out and swept them off in such numbers as to arouse compassion in hearts the least sensible to woe.^ It has been asserted that, as near as could be esti- mated, in the last six years of the war more than eleven thousand captives died on board the " Jersey " alone. Besides the three ships already mentioned, there were the " Provost," the " Strombolo," and the " Good Hope." The prisoners on the latter set fire to it, hoping to gain their freedom in that way, preferring to meet a speedy death in the dark waters rather than a lingering one in its hold ; but the chief incen- diaries were removed to the " Provost," and the others to the "Jersey." The latter, being freed from her living freight at the close of the war, was shunned as a nest of pestilence. The worms destroyed her already half- 1 " Thus wrote JohnMorin Scott, an illustrious statesman and soldier of those days : — ' Let the dark Scorpion's hull narrate The dismal tale of English hate ; Her horrid tales let Jersey tell, And mock the shades where demons dwell, Their shriek of pain and dying groan Unheeded fell on hearts of stone. ' " Philip Frcncau decayed bottom, and she sank, bearing inscribed on her planks the names ot" thousands of American pris- oners. For more than twenty years the ebbing tide exposed her bare ribs, but this e\'idence of British bar- barity was at length buried beneath the United Snites nayy y;ird.^ The precise number of deaths that oc- curred from ill treatment and staryarion on these hulks will neyer be known till the day of doom. Many of these yictims neyer had the rites of sepultiire ; and others ^ye^e so imperfectly coyered that for some time after the war their bones were found uncovered on the shores ot Long Island. To return to Freneau's description : — ^^ Thou, Scorpion, fatal to thy crowded throng. Dire theme of horror and Plutonian song, Recjuir'st mv lav — thv sultrv decks 1 know. And all the tonnents that exist below ! The brinv wave that Hudson's bosom tills Drain'd through her bottom in a thousand rills : Rotten and old, replete with sighs and groans. Scarce on the waters she susrain'd her bones ; Here, doom'd to toil, or founder in the tide, •-*^ At the moist pumps incessantly \>-e ply'd. Here, doom'd to starve, like famish'd dogs, we core The scant allowance that our tyrants bore. When to the ocean sinks the western sun. And the scorchM Tories lire their evening gun, ♦^ Down, rebels, down ' ' the angr)- Scotchmen cry, *^ Base dogs, descend, or bv our broad swords die ! ' Hail, dark abode ! what can with thee compare : — Heat, sickness, famine, death, and stagnant air — Swift from the guarded decks we rxish'd along. And vainlv sought repose, so vast our throng ; Four hundred wretches here, denied all light. In crowded mansions pass the infernal night, 1 Histonr of New York, bv Miss Booth- 'The Poet of the Revolution Some for a bed their tatter'd vestments join, And some on chests, and some on floors recline i \ Shut from the blessings of the evening air * Pensive we lav with mingled corpses there, Meagre and wan, and scorch'd with heat below, We look'd like ghosts, ere deatii had made us so — How could we else, where heat and hunger joined. Thus to debase the bodv and the mind, — No waters laded from the bubbling spring To these dire ships these little tvrants bring — By planks and ponderous beams completely wall'd In vain for water and in vain we call'd — No drop was granted to the midnight prayer. To reht-h in these regions of despair ! — The loathsome cask a deadlv dose contains. Its poison circling through the languid veins. Sweet morn dispcll'd the horrors of the shade; On every side dire objects met the sight. And pallid forms, and murders of the night, — The dead were past their pain, the living groan, Nor dare to hope another morn their own ; But what to them is niorn's delightful ray ? Sad and distrestful as the close of day ; O'er distant streams appears the dewy green, And leafv trees on mountain tops are seen. But thev no groves nor grassv mountains tread Mark'd for a longer journey to the dead." The freedom-loving and freedom-craving spirit of Frencau, like the caged eagle, vainlv beat its wings against the bars of its cage ; and what wonder that it finally succumbed to the horrors of his situation, and that he was borne in a half-dving condition from that intected hulk to the even more loathsome one of the hospital ship, the "Hunter" ? " Joyful we left the Scorpion's dire abode ; Some tears we shed for the remaining crew. Then curs'd the hulk, and from her sides withdrew." ^ Philip Frcricciu The Hospital Prison Ship. " Now tow'rds the Hunter's gloomy decks we came, A slaughter-house, vet hospital in name ; We were so p.ile ! — that we were thought bv some A freight of ghosts, from death's dominions come — Down to the gloom we took our pensive wav, Along the decks the dving captives lav ; Some struck with madness, some with scurvv pain'd, But still of putrid fevers most complain'd ! On the hard floors these wasted objects laid. There toss'd and tumbled in the dismal shade. There no soft voice their bitter fate bemoan'd. And death trode statelv, while the victims groan'd ; Of leakv decks I heard them long complain, Drown'd as thev were in deluges of rain, Denv'd the comforts of a dving bed. And not a pillow to support the head — How could thev else but pine, and grieve, and sigh, Detest a wretched life — and wish to die : Scarce had I mingled with this dismal band When a thin victim seiz'd me bv the hand — *- And an thou come,' (^death heavv on his eves) ^ And art thou come to these abodes : ' he cries. •• Whv didst thou leave the Scorpion's dark retreat. And hither haste, a surer death to meet : Whv didst thou leave thv damp infected cell : — If tbut was purgator\-, this is hell.' From Brooklvn heights a Hessian doctor came. Not great his skill, nor greater much his fame ; Fair Science never call'd the wretch her son. And Art disdain'd the stupid man to own ; — Can you admire that Science was so coy. Or Art refus'd his genius to employ : — l^o men with brutes an equ.vl dullness share. Or cuts von grovelling mole the midwav air r In polar worlds can Eden's blossoms blow : Do trees of God in b;u:ren deserts grow : Are loaded vines to Etna's summit known. Or swells the peach beneath the frozen zone ? [7/6] The Poet of the Revolution He on his charge the healing work begun With antimonial mixtures by the tun, Ten minutes was the time he deign'd to stay, The time of grace allotted once a day. — He drench'd us well with bitter draughts, 't is true. Nostrums from hell, and cortex from Peru — Some with his pills he sent to Pluto's reign. And some he blister'd with his flies of Spain ; And Tartar doses walk'd their deadly round. Here, uncontroul'd, he exercis'd his trade. And grew experienc'd by the deaths he made, By frequent blows we from his cane endur'd He kill'd at least as many as he cur'd, On our lost comrades built his future fame. And scatter'd fate where'er his footsteps came. Knave though he was, yet candour must confess Not chief Physician was this man of Hesse — One master o'er the murdering tribe was plac'd. By him the rest were honour'd or disgrac'd ; Once, and but once, by some strange fortune led He came to see the dying and the dead — He came — but anger so deform'd his eye. And such a faulchion glitter'd on his thigh, And such a gloom his visage darken'd o'er, And two such pistols in his hands he bore ! That by the gods ! — with such a load of steel. He came, we thought, to murder, not to heal — All were astonish'd at the oaths he swore ; He swore till every prisoner stood aghast, And thought him Satan in a brimstone blast ; He wish'd us banish'd from the public light. And wish'd us shrouded in perpetual night ! That were he king, no mercy would he show. But drive all rebels to the world below. Each day, at least six carcasses we bore And scratch'd them graves along the sandy shore. By feeble hands the shallow graves were made, No stone, memorial, o'er the corpses laid ; Philip Freneau In barren sands, and far from home, they lie. No friend to shed a tear, when passing by ; O'er the mean tombs the insulting Britons tread. Spurn at the sand, and curse the rebel dead. When to your arms these fatal islands fall, (For first, or last, they must be conquer'd all) Americans ! to rites sepulchral just, With gentlest footstep press this kindred dust. And o'er the tombs, if tombs can then be found. Place the green turf, and plant the myrtle round. These all in Freedom's sacred cause allied For Freedom ventur'd and for Freedom died." Sixty long days and nights Freneau passed between the deck and the hold of the " Scorpion ; " how many more he remained in the "Hunter," we do not know exactly ; but the capture occurred in May, and he was released in July of the same year, 1780. It had been agreed between the British government and the United Colonies that all privateers sailing with letters of marque should be subject to the same rules of exchange as officers in the army. Boudinot had been appointed commissioner for the exchange of prisoners, and his father and Andre Freneau having been old friends as well as compatriots, he, as may be supposed, lost no time in setting Philip at liberty. Pintard, Boudinot's secretary, was a warm friend of Freneau's, and frequently spoke of the sufferings of his friend and his fellow-captives. A very romantic story in regard to the supposed escape of Freneau from the prison ship has been published, but we have the reality of his exchange in his own words : — "On the I2,th of July, the flag came alongside and cleared the hospital ship. But the miseries we endured in getting to Elizabeth Town were many ; those that were very bad, of which the proportion was great, naturally took possession of the hold. No prisoner was allowed to go in the cabin, so that I, with iri8\ The Poet of the Revolution twenty or thirty others, was obliged to sleep out all the night, which was uncommonly cold for the season. About ten next morning we arrived at Elizabeth Town Point, where we were kept in the burning sun several hours till the Commissary came to discharge us. I was afflicted with such pains in my joints I could scarcely walk, and besides was weakened with a raging fever ; nevertheless, I walked the two miles to Elizabeth Town ; here I got a passage on a wagon to within a mile of Crow's Ferry, which I walked ; got a passage over the ferry, and walked on as far as Molly Bud- leigh's, where I stayed all night ; next morning, having breakfasted on some bread and milk, I set homeward ; when I came to Obadiah Budleigh's cor- ner, I turned to the right and came home through the woods, for fear of terrifying the neighbors with my ghastly looks had I gone thro Mount Pleasant. July 14, 1780. I forgot to mention that as soon as we came to New York, and things were a little ad- justed, Mr. Chatham, our first mate, went on board the" Aurora " and found his desk with mine and several books open and everything taken out ; so much for English honor and honesty.^ N. B. Wrote a letter by Hulings to Mr. G., but received no answer. Two days before I was exchanged got a letter from Mr. G. offering me anything I wanted, pretending he did not know what ship I was in. 1 returned him a letter of thanks, letting him know that if he could get me a parole it would be the greatest favor he could do me. The same day Mr. Robins came alongside in a small boat with fish, offering me what money I wanted. I begged him to lay the money out in wine, oranges, and lemons, and send them to me. He promised to be alongside in three hours, but I never saw him after- 1 In leaving the " Aurora" Freneau had been assured by the commander of the " Iris " that his personal effects would be carefully cared for and would be turned over to him later on. Philip Freneau ward ; in short I met with nothing but disappointment among this people, and cannot sufficiently congratulate myself upon having got from among them." Among some papers belonging to Freneau's daugh- ter, Mrs. Agnes Leadbeater, was a clipping from a newspaper yellow with age ; it bore no date and read as follows : " At Big Flats, Steuben Co., N. Y., the 4th inst., Hon. Wm. Steele, aet. ninety-five years. Mr. Steele was born in the city of New York, and took an active part in the revolutionary struggle. In the spring of 1780 he sailed from Philadelphia on board the 'Aurora,' a twenty-gun ship, which was shortly after captured by the British frigate 'Iris' bear- ing despatches of the surrender of Charleston to the British. In the running fight which ensued he was severely wounded, taken prisoner, and detained be- tween four or five months when he was exchanged in the exchange of prisoners." It was a singular coincidence that the " Iris " that captured Freneau should be the bearer of despatches containing news of the defeat of an afterwards intimate friend, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Caro- lina, who commanded Fort Moultrie, but was obliged to abandon the fort to help with the defence of the city of Charleston ; but not, however, until he had inflicted great injury upon the British, whose force was greatly superior to his. \I20\ Chapter Eighth THE exchange of prisoners occurring in the sum- mer of 1780, Philip returned to his mother's house to recuperate ; his health having been quite shattered by the rigors of his captivity. It is unnecessary to add that he carried with him a burning resentment for the ignominious and cruel treatment he had undergone. It was during these months of rest and a mother's care that he wrote the poem from which we have so largely drawn in the preceding chapter. Originally, the poem contained four cantos, and was thus printed by Francis Bailey in Philadelphia in the year 178 1, entitled "Cantos from a Prison Ship." Later on, the author recast it, as was his wont with his productions, and it appeared in the Monmouth edition in three cantos, and was entitled, " The British Prison Ship ; " it runs to about six hundred and fifty lines. Mr. Edward Delancey, having quoted a few Hnes of this poem in his " Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of America," ^ says : " The poem was intended to rouse up American feeling, then — in 1780 — excessively depressed; and it serves to show Freneau's power to arrest public attention, as well as the variety, beauty, and force of different characteristics of his verse;" and he continues : " Of course, the poem is exaggerated in its statements, but in this the skill of the true poet shows itself, for in all appeals of this kind exaggeration is a necessity if an effect is to be produced — just as the sculptor is obliged to make the figure of his hero larger than life, if his statue is to be im- pressive." In the accounts given by persons who were 1 Vol. ii. No. 2. [121] Philip Freneau not poets, and therefore without any poetical license to exaggerate, the description falls very little, if at all, short of Freneau's. Nearly half of the British force in the vicinity of New York was Hessian, and we learn from history that in such contempt were the Hessians held on account of their brutal force and hireling character, that Frederick the Great, disgusted at the thought of any sovereign employing such a force to reduce his colonies, charged so much a head for permitting them to cross his territory ; saying, satirically, that was the rate he charged for driv- ing live stock across his kingdom. The boot now exhibited at Washington's Headquarters in Newburg on the Hudson as belonging to one of these troops, speaks volumes as to the owner of such a machine. The year of Freneau's capture and imprisonment, as well as the succeeding one, was dreary enough for the patriots. In the north, military operations were mostly suspended ; and in the south the army had met with many reverses. As we have seen in the last chapter, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney had been com- pelled to yield Fort Moultrie to greatly superior forces, and to reinforce General Lincoln, who was try- ing to hold Charleston with fourteen hundred men against Sir Henry Clinton with five thousand. South Carolina was at last obliged to surrender, and the garrison, including Pinckney, were made prisoners of war. The latter was not released until peace was de- clared. Meanwhile, the nation's credit was at its lowest ebb ; the continental bills fell in value to two cents on the dollar, and business was paralyzed. Had not Robert Morris and a few wealthy patriots come forward and laid their private fortunes on their country's shrine, its sun would have sunk then and there. The condition of the army was desperate ; no food, no pay, no clothing. The American women came forward and did their best to provide the latter, still the army \l22-\ The Poet of the Revolution suffered. To add to all this misery, Benedict Arnold had turned traitor. Dismissed from Virginia, where he had held supreme command after General Phillips' death, he returned to New York ; and, receiving from Clinton a second detachment, he entered the sound, knding at New London, and captured the town. Colonel William Ledyard,^ who was doubly related to Philip's wife, held command of forts Griswold and Trumbull which protected the city, but finding his force inadequate to hold them both, he withdrew all his force, amounting to one hundred and fifty militia, to the former, and held it for about an hour against eight hundred British troops. The works were carried after severe fighting, but not until the two superior officers and two hundred men had been killed or dis- abled on the British side. Upon its surrender. Major Bromfield, upon whom the command now devolved, asked who commanded the garrison. Ledyard replied, " I did command it, but you do now," and handed him his sword. Bromfield, taking it, ran it through the body of Colonel Ledyard up to the hilt, and a general massacre ensued. About one hundred men were killed and wounded. A monument has been erected near the spot to commemorate the massacre. Miss Fannie Ledyard, a niece of Colonel Ledyard, was on a visit to Groton, Conn., while Arnold was carrying on his butcheries there, and she devoted her whole time to caring for the wounded and dying. She became quite a heroine during the war, and her name is honorably mentioned amongst the devoted and self-sacrificing women of the Revolution. She afterwards married R. L. Peters of Southold, and her remains rest in the old cemetery near the historic home of her ancestors. This family, being so nearly related to Philip, and its history a romantic one, it will not do to pass over. ^ Colonel Ledyard was at the time thirty-one years of age. Philip Freneau At the eastern extremity of Long Island is a quaint old town called Southold ; and one of the oldest and most interesting landmarks of the place is the Case House, which was erected in the year 1647, ^^ which time the only communication with it was by water. A writer, in speaking of the house, has said : " Around this old building cluster many romantic legends and quaint stories, interwoven with the names of men and women who have figured in the early history of Suf- folk County." In those early times this house was considered quite an aristocratic affair. It stands about a mile south of Horton's Point, where the settlers of Suffolk landed in 1 640. In 1673 the Dutch commissioners, sup- posing themselves, like Crusoe, monarchs of all they surveyed, paid a visit to this town for the purpose of making Thomas Moore high-sheriff; but, unlike Crusoe, they found they were not so, for the settlers, indignant at the idea of being made Dutch whether they would or not, protested against this aggressive measure and desired the authority of the commission- ers to act in their regard ; and they immediately voted to connect themselves with the commonwealth of Connecticut. John Ledyard, a son of this old house, married the daughter of Judge Young, and afterwards re- moved to the township of New London, Conn. ; the place near Groton is named Ledyard after him. His eldest son, also named John, returned to Southold and married the famous beauty of the time, Abigail, the daughter of Robert Hempstead.^ Mr. Ledyard engaged in the West Indian trade, but died at the early age of thirty-five years ; Mrs. Ledyard retained much of her former beauty, and afterward married Dr. Micah Moore, the beloved physician of that section. Her eldest son, John, afterwards known as Ledyard ^ The city of Hempstead is named after this family. 'The Poet of the Revolution the Traveller, upon the second marriage of his mother, went to reside with his paternal grandfather in Con- necticut. After making his studies he attempted law, but his mother, desirous of having him become a mis- sionary to the Indians, had him placed at Dartmouth College with that intention. During his stay there he absented himself for several months, and upon his return he excused his absence as arising from a desire to visit the Six Nations and study Indian life. Whether it was the experience he had with them or a disinclina- tion for the ministry that caused him to abandon the project, is not known ; but he soon after presented himself at his mother's house, having sailed down the Connecticut River and across the sound, master of his own vessel ; this original affair being a dug-out, or canoe made from the trunks of a tree hollowed out in Indian fashion. Soon after, his adventurous spirit caused him to run away from home and embark on a ship bound for the Mediterranean.^ Arriving in Lon- don as Captain Cook was preparing for his third voyage around the world, Ledyard was introduced to him and produced such a favorable impression upon the bold navigator that he readily accepted him as an assistant. Ledyard was with Captain Cook when he was killed by the cannibals. Although Ledyard remained in the British service, he refused to bear arms against his native country. In 1782 the man- of-war to which he belonged arrived off Huntington, and, obtaining leave of absence, he paid a visit to his mother. Finding some British officers in her parlor, he did not make himself known ; and he had changed so much during his eight years of absence that he was not recognized. During the visit some familiar ex- ^ According to the Records of the Genealogical Society, Ledyard had "just cause" for leaving his relatives. A commentator remarks that the fact that people sometimes retain the property belonging to others is not calculated to keep those who are wronged around the ancestral home. hilip Freneau pression attracted the lady's attention ; and, after scrutinizing him for a mom&nt, she pressed him to her heart, forgetting the presence of strangers, so great was her joy ; their astonishment was considerable until the matter was explained. In 1785 Ledyard visited Paris, and was received most kindly by Mr. Jefferson, United States minister at the time, and also by Lafay- ette. Desirous of fitting out an exploring expedition, he found Captain Paul Jones a ready co-operator in his plan ; but circumstances prevented their carrying it into effect. During one of his journeys he attempted to cross the Gulf of Bothnia on the ice, but upon reaching the middle he found open water, and was obliged to alter his course and walk around the whole coast of the gulf, although it was the dead of winter. By the time he reached St. Petersburg he had jour- neyed upwards of fourteen hundred miles in seven weeks. At Irkootsk he was arrested as a spy, and thought he got off very easily when the empress or- dered two guards to accompany him to the frontiers of Poland, and there dismiss him with the threat of being hanged if he ever entered Russia again. It is most probable that he did not. After travelling over the most of the then known part of the world, he died at Cairo, as he was preparing to cross the African continent westerly from Sennaar. It is said of him that he was adventurous beyond the conception of ordinary men, yet wary and considerate ; and he appeared to be formed by nature for achievements of hardihood and peril ; for capacity of endurance, resolution, and physical vigor, he was one of the most remarkable of modern travellers ; and had he possessed means equal to his zeal, his name would doubtless have been asso- ciated with important discoveries, as it now is with wonderful and romantic, but unprofitable adventures. Writing to Mr. Jefferson, he utters a beautiful and re- fined compliment. Expressing his appreciation of the \I26\ The Poet of the Revolution former's kindness while in Paris, he writes : " I shall never think my letter an indifferent one when it con- tains the declaration of my gratitude and my affection for you; and this, notwithstanding you thought hard of me for being employed by an English associa- tion, which hurt me while I was in Paris. You know your own heart; and if my suspicions are groundless, forgive them, since they proceed from the jealousy I have, not to lose the regard you have in times past been pleased to honor me with. You are not obliged to esteem me, but I am obliged to esteem you, or take leave of my senses and confront the opinions of the greatest and best characters I know. If I cannot therefore address myself to you as a man you regard, I must do it as one that regards you, for your own sake and for the sake of my country, which has set me the example." ^ His relative, Freneau's wife, used to tell an amus- ing story of an unexpected visit from him upon his return from one of his perilous adventures. She was seated by a window in Middleton Point engaged in reading, when she heard the hasty galloping of a horse, and suddenly felt herself embraced most warmly, and then heard the retreating gallop of the same down the street ; and all in shorter time than it takes to tell it. Her feeling of indignation cooled down later on, upon learning that the author of the affair was her wild, fun- loving relative ; for no one could be angry with Jack Ledyard. After the battle of Long Island, m which, as we . ^ A biographer of Ledyard has written, " Ledyard gave Jefferson a great deal of vahiable information, which, for political reasons, Jefferson did not publish, but which was of great benefit to him in the conduct of for- eign affairs when he became president." He likewise says that the success of the administration in pushing forward the contest which made the Pa- cific the western boundary, in opposition to the Hudson Bay Co. , and also in opposition to a great many American Congressmen, was partly due to information given by Ledvard in the early days. [ ^27 ] Philip Freneau have seen, the patriots were defeated, the British occupied the eastern extremity of the island, making their headquarters at the Vail ^ house, which was not far from Mrs. Moore's residence. The officers fre- quently visited that lady, probably attracted by her charming daughters. Mrs. Moore was a thorough patriot, but nevertheless entertained her guests most hospitably ; keeping, however, a sharp eye on her young people. A ship lay at anchor in the sound in sight ot the house, whose commander verv frequently was a guest of the lady. Her third and last child by the name of Ledyard, Jerusia, looked favorablv on her suitor, although he wore the uniform of a British naval officer, and was fighting against her country ; but her mother looked less favorably upon his suit. One dav Jerusia was missing, and the ship gave tokens of a sudden departure. Summoning some men, the determined mother had herself taken in a boat alongr- side the ship, and demanded her daughter ; but gave her consent to the nuptials, provided the ceremony was performed in the little Puritan church in the village, which was done. The oldest daughter by Mrs. Ledyard's second marriage, Rebecca, married Captain Jonathan Landon, who commanded the brig " Georgia " of historic fame ; and Julia, the youngest, became the wife of Matthias Case and succeeded her mother as mistress of the Led- yard-Moore-Case house. The latter name it bears at the present day. For years the town meetings were held at this house ; and whenever there was a question of a vote it was taken on the lawn in front, the voters being drawn up in lines.^ ^ Both this house and the Case house are yet standing. ^ Connected with this family are: Rev. Theodore Led^'a^d Cuyler, D.D., Lewis Cass Ledvard, Horatio Sevmour, John Sevmour, Ex-Gov. E. D. Morgan, Tliomas Sevmour of Connecticut, Governor and Con- gressman, Senator George Ledyard, and the Baroness von Kettler. \I28\ "The Poet of the Revolution When Arnold left New York with his family for England in 178 1, Freneau celebrated his departure by an ode which is in imitation of Horace. Duyckinck says Freneau's rendering is quite skilful, and shows his scholar's appreciation of the original. ARNOLD'S DEPARTURE. Mala soluta navis exit aliter Ferens olentem Maevium. Imitated from Horace. With evil omens from the harbour sails The ill-fated ship that worthless Arnold bears, God of the southern winds, call up thy gales. And whistle in rude fury round his ears. With horrid waves insult his vessel's sides. And may the east wind on a leeward shore Her cables snap, u^hile she in tumult rides, And shatter into shivers every oar. And let the north vi^ind to her ruin haste. With such a rage, as vi^hen from mountains high He rends the tall oak v^^ith his weighty blast. And ruin spreads, where'er his forces fly. May not one friendly star that night be seen ; No Moon, attendant, dart one glimmering ray. Nor may she ride on oceans more serene Than Greece, triumphant, found that stormy day, When angry Pallas spent her rage no more On vanquish'd Ilium, then in ashes laid. But turn'd it on the barque that Ajax bore Avenging thus her temple and the maid. When toss'd upon the vast Atlantic main Your groaning ship the southern gales shall tear. How will your sailors sweat, and you complain And meanly howl to Jove, that will not hear ! [ p ] Vi2g\ Philip Freneau But if at last, upon some winding shore A prey to hungry cormorants you lie, A wanton goat to every stormy power,^ And a fat lamb in sacrifice, shall die. Of this poem, Professor Murray says some parts are unequalled. In this year, 1881, Freneau published his poem com- memorating the naval victory of Paul Jones. It was entitled " On the Memorable Victory," which the same professor says is a genuine specimen of the national ballad. One beautiful phase of Freneau's character was his freedom from all sentiment of jealousy. Prob- ably no one was ever found more willing to bestow praise, when deserved, than he. Although the entire poem is a panegyric, I select a few stanzas to exemplify what I have already stated : — " 'T was Jones, brave Jones, to battle led As bold a crew as ever bled Upon the sky surrounded main ; The standards of the western world Were to the willing winds unfurl'd, Denying Britain's tyrant reign." And again : — '' But thou, brave Jones, no blame shalt bear ; The rights of men demand your care : For these you dare the greedy waves — No tyrant, on destruction bent. Has plann'd thy conquests — thou art sent To humble tyrants and their slaves." The poem contains twenty-one stanzas descriptive of the battle. The concluding stanzas run thus : — & '' Go on, great man, to scourge the foe. And bid these haughty Britons know ^ The tempests were s^oddesses among the Romans. U30\ The Poet of the Revolution They to our Thirteen Stars shall bend; The Stars that, veil'd in dark attire, Long glimmer'd with a feeble fire. But radiant now ascend. *' Bend to the stars that flaming rise On western worlds, more brilliant skies, Fair Freedom's reign restor'd — So when the Magi, come from far. Beheld the God-attending Star, They trembled and ador'd." ^' During the year 178 1 and till peace was declared, Freneau strove to animate his countrymen with his pen, as indeed he had ever done since the outbreak of hostilities. From Concord to Yorktown, during the bleak winter at Valley Forge, and round the camp-fires on Temple Hill, his verses encouraged the desponding soldiers. The newspapers widely published them, and they were written on slips of paper and distributed throughout the army, or posted in some conspicuous place to be memorized. And not alone by the camp- fire did they accomplish their work, but even on the field ; his earnestness and zeal encouraged the patriots to greater efforts, or urged them on at the point of his bayonet (the pen) when he saw any signs of their lagging behind ; and afterwards he immortalized the victories they won. Not a memorable incident either by land or by water escaped his ever watchful and unwearied pen. Conscious that ridicule best kills a cause, every vain exploit of the enemy was depicted in a ludicrous light ; and so successfully did he attack those that still adhered to the crown that he gained to his side many who through indifference had given their adherence to ^ This action was fought off Flamborough Head the 23d of Septem- ber, 1779. Few naval battles have made a greater popular impression. The history of Jones has an air of romance and gallantry, of courage and adventure. His ability as an officer and seaman cannot be disputed. Philip Freneau neither party. This was too serious a time to think of future fame ; the stern realities of the present were to be met, and by a supreme effort everything was to be gained or all lost. His country's fortunes were his, and he threw himself heart and soul into the task. Exquisite melodies could hardly touch the hearts of the half-clothed barefooted soldiers. It would be like the mockery of pouring a wineglass of Tokay or Johannisberg into the poor empty canteens of half- famished soldiers. No, he wrote to arouse, to inspire, to encourage the rough, illiterate men of whom the army was mostly composed. And as no two natures are precisely alike, he enlisted all his talents in his work; burlesque, satire, imprecation, — nothing was neglected that might touch an answering chord in their hearts. Now he would ring a note of victory, now one of defiance, again that of denunciation in answer to some Tory gibe. Some writer has said, " Was it not as grand and true a spirit that would behttle itself to cheer the down- hearted patriots, or give their unrefined ears some jingle to sing or some praise to cheer, as issued from the lips of the oiiicers on the field ? — it was all for the same cause." It has also been truthfully said that among the poets of the Revolution that contributed the most effectually to animate the colonists in their struggles with England, Freneau holds the chief place ; and that during the war, and for several years after- wards, his efforts were so much appreciated that he enjoyed a large measure of popularity : and even since that time many of his productions have received high praise abroad and at home. His real strength lay in his earnestness, and it was this quality that made his revolutionary verses popular, and contributed to their real merit. During the war he satirized Tryon, Gage, Bur- goyne,Vaughan, Knyphausen,and Lords Percy, North, [ ^32 ] The Poet of the Revolution and Jeffries, also the blundering of the British troops by land, and their losses by sea ; and, above all, the crown in its representative, George, whom he called a "royal coward." In fact, as Professor Tyler has said, " a running commentary on his Revolutionary satires would be an almost complete commentary on the whole Revolutionary struggle ; nearly every important emergency and phase of which are photographed in his keen, merciless, and often brilliant lines." The war ending in 1783, Freneau dropped his I bloodless warfare and turned his satirical powers \ upon the rival printers Rivington and Gaines ; who had changed their signs as well as their coats to suit each power that held the ascendency ; and which he thought called rather for ridicule than eloquence. And in this. Dr. Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, and Trumbull joined him, opening their batteries of se- verity and ridicule upon these unfortunate remnants of Toryism. James Rivington was a London bookseller , who had established himself in New York, and com- menced, in 1773, the publication of the "New York Gazetteer," a Tory organ. In 1775, Isaac Sears, a " Son of Liberty," destroyed his office and ran his type into bullets ; Rivington repaired to England, obtained the appointment of king's printer, and re- turned with new type to New York. Although he seemed to do his best to fan the flame of Toryism before and during the war, after it was over he escaped deserved punishment by having acted as a spy for Washington. Nevertheless, Freneau, who detested insincerity, commemorated his turncoat pro- pensities in several poems ; but Rivington, a supple courtier, stood the fire, took down the royal arms of which Freneau made sport, and continued his paper under the title of " New York Gazette and Universal Advertiser." This latter quality drew upon him Fre- neau's ridicule ; it is said that his advertisements sup- Philip Frcncau plied no small amount of amusement to all his readers, rhe poet caricatures them thus in his verses entitled, '•■ Rivino;ton's last Will and Testament," of which I will onlv quote an occasional verse : — *•' To the king, mv dear master, I give a full sett, In volumes bound up, of the Roval Gazette, In which he will tind the vast records contain'd Of provinces conquer'd, and victories gain'd. " As to Arnold, the traitor, and Satan his brother, 1 beii; thev will also accept oi another ; And this shall be bound in morocco red leather, Provided thev '11 read it, like brothers, together. " But if Arnold should die, 't is another affair. Then Satan, surviving, shall be the sole heir; He often has told me he thought it quite clever. So to him and his heirs, I bequeath it forever. " I know there are some, that would fain be thought wise Who say mv Gazette is a record of lies; In answer to this I shall onlv replv — All the choice that I had was, to starve or to lie. " Mv fiddles, mv flutes, French horns and guitars,^ I leave to our Heroes, now wear)- oi wars — To the wars of the stage thev more boldly advance,^ The captains shall plav and the soldiers shall dance. " To Sir Henn- Clinton his use and behoof, I leave mv French brandv, of verv good proof; It will give him fresh spirits for battle and slaughter And make him feel bolder bv land and by water : ^' To Baron Knvphausen, his heirs and assigns, I bequeath mv old Hock, and my Burgundy wines, 1 Rivington setms to have prided himselt on his supply of ** good fiddles." " * ♦• It became fashionable at this period with the British officers to assume the business of the drama, to the no small mortification of those who had been holding them up as the conquerors of North America." [W] "The Poet of the Revolution To a true Hessian drunkard, no liquors are sweeter, And I know the old man is no foe to the creature. " To a Cn-ncral, nw namesake, I give and dispose Of a purse full of clipp'd, light^ sweated half Joes : I hereby desire hinn to take back his trash. And return me my Hannay's infallible Wash. " My chessmen and tables, and other such chattels I tj;ive to Cornwallis, renowned in battles : By moving of these, not tracing the map, He'll explain to the king how he got in a trap." The type of the " Gazette " being rather delicate through age, Frcneau commemorates the fact in an epigram entitled " Kpigram. Occasioned by the 'Title of Mr. Rivin^tons New Tork Royal Gazette being scarcely legible." Undoubtedly to please Freneau, the editor of the " Gazette " got new types, and this fact called for some *' Lines. Occasioned by Mr. Riving tons new Titular types to his Royal Gazette of February 17, 1782." Then his arms fell under Freneau's fire and the edi- tor had new ones engraved, which called for another set of verses : — ON MR. RIVINGTON'S NEW ENGRAVED KING'S ARMS TO HIS ROYAL GAZETTE. PVom the regions of night, with his head in a sack. Ascended a person accoutred in black. And upward directing his circular eye whites; (Like the Jure-divino political Levites) And leaning his elbow on Rivington's shelf. While the printer was busy thus mus'd with himself: " My mandates are fully complied with at last. New Arms are engrav'd, and new letters are cast ■■, I therefore determine and freely accord. This servant of mine shall receive his reward." [ ^3J J Philip Freneau Then turning about, to the printer he said, "Who late was my servant shall now be my aid; Since under my banner so bravely you fight. Kneel down ! — for your merits I dubb you a knight^ From a passive subaltern I bid you to rise The Inventor, as well as the Printer of Lies." Freneau's other victim, Hugh Gaines, an Irishman by birth, had settled in New York as a printer in 1750 ; and two years later established a newspaper called the " New York Mercury." His sign was a Bible and a crown ; his politics, whichever side was upper- most. After the war he was allowed to continue his book store, striking the crown from his sign ; but his paper was discontinued. At the beginning of the war he sided with the patriots, and when the British seized New York, he retired to New Jersey and published his paper there for a few weeks, but returned to New York and continued his printing, under the protection of the royal army. Freneau has written a Poetical Biography, of Gaines, in which he depicts his retreat to New Jersey, and in which occurs an image to which Mr. Delancey draws attention as being an " exceed- ingly fine one — one of the striking creations of the true poet." "IV. " From this very day 'till the British came in, We liv'd I may say, in the Desert of Sin ; — Such beating, and bruising, and scratching^ and tearing ; Such kicking, and cuffing, and cursing and swearing ! But when they advanc'd with their numerous fleet ^ And Washington made his nocturnal retreat} (And which they permitted^ I say to their shame, Or else your New Empire had been but a name). We townsmen, like women, of Britons in dread^ Mistrusted their meaning, and foolishly fled i * Retreat from Long Island. [ 136 ] The Poet of the Revolution Like the rest of the dunces I mounted my steed. And gallop'd away with incredible speed, To Newark I hastened — but trouble and care Got up on the crupper and followed me there." l Before the war Gaines had published some of Fre- neau's satires against Great Britain, and the poet puts these words in Gaines' mouth in apology for the act: — " I first was a whig with an honest intent ; Not a Rebel among them talk'd louder or bolder. With his sword by his side, or his gun on his shoulder, Yes, I was a whig, and a whig from my heart, But still was unwilling with Britain to part — I thought to oppose her was foolish and vain, I thought she would turn and embrace us again. And make us as happy as happy could be. By renewing the aera of mild Sixty-three ; And yet, like a cruel undutiful son, Who evil returns for the good to be done^ Unmerited odium on Britain to throw, I printed some treason for Philip Freneau, Some damnable poems reflecting on Gage, The King and his Council, and writ with such rage, So full of invective, and loaded with spleen. So sneeringly smart, and so hellishly keen. That, at least in the judgment of half our wise men, Alecto herself put the nib to his pen." Dr. Francis, in his reminiscences, relates the meeting of Freneau and his victim after the war. The former was quietly looking at some books in the store of the latter, when a friend entered ; and in saluting Freneau, called him by name quite distinctly. The name ar- rested the attention of the old printer, who, lifting up his eyes, said, — 1 Probably adapted from Horace: — ♦' Post equitem sedet atra Cura. " Philip Freneau " Is your name Freneau ?*' " Yes," replied the poet, " Philip Freneau." " Philip Freneau ? " repeated Gaines. " Yes, sir, the same." "Then, sir," warmly returned the latter, "you are a clever fellow ; let me have the pleasure of taking you by the hand. Will you join me in my parlor around the corner and we will have a glass of wine together. You have given me and my friend Rivington a wide and lasting reputation." In 1784 we iind Freneau dating a poem from Port Royal; and from another, dated Charleston, 1786, we learn that he was visiting his brother in that year. From a note in a very old book we find that he made two voyages to Madeira as commander of the brig " Washington," which was owned and freighted by his brother. Pierre, or Peter Freneau, as he was usually called, was the younger and only living brother of the poet. It has been stated that he was graduated at Princeton College, but his name is not found upon their records. This may bq satisfactorily accounted for by the fact of his being a student at the time the British took possession of Nassau Hall, and the rolls then in use may have been destroyed, while the earlier records were, probably, safe by having been stored away, and have thus been handed down. Some years after his graduation, and in the year 1782, Peter took up his residence in Charleston. South Carolina was a favorite location for the Huguenot refugees ; consequently their numbers in that State exceeded that of any other. They founded large plantations on the banks of the Cooper River, and to them it is said the State is indebted for the introduction of the olive and mulberry. In the city of Charleston they added many new streets, and their merchants were distinguished as being the most active [ 138 ] T^he Poet of the Revolution and thrifty in the provinces ; and many of the most distinguished families of later days are descended from the Huguenot settlers. Charleston was a very aristo- cratic city, and it has been said to have had its no- bility in everything but titles. Among its residents at that time were the Right Hon. Richard Beresford, brother to the Premier ; Pierce Butler, cousin to the Duke of Ormond; Lady Mary Middleton, and others. All these circumstances may have combined to cause Peter to choose that city for a permanent residence. It is said that from the first he attracted general and favorable notice from those the best qualified as judges, and that he became a prominent and influential citizen of his adopted city. Peter was renowned throughout the State for his personal beauty ; and his manners were such as to endear him to all and render him popular in the extreme.^ It is most probable, if he married, that his wife died early, as Mr. Thomas in his Reminiscences, V-* to which I am indebted for most of these facts, says that although he kept up an establishment, he had no family but his slaves. It has also been stated that he never married. This, we think, is a mistake, as Philip's daughter Agnes remembered, as a child, see- ing his wife frequently at Mt. Pleasant, and that upon one of Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Freneau's visits they drove by easv stages from Charleston, and presented her father with the handsome span of horses, carriage, and slave coachman. Peter was noted for his hand- some presents and generous liberaUty. Mrs. Agnes Leadbeater also states that her elder sister Helen went to Charleston with her uncle and aunt and remained there some time, for the purpose of attending an excellent school conducted by a daughter of Admiral ^ It is said that, when visiting Mr. and Mrs. Philip Freneau in Phila- delphia while that city was the seat of government, he became one of the greatest social favorites and one of the most talked-of men at the assemblies. \i39\ Philip Frcneau de Grasse/ as schools for females were few and poor near her home. Pierre never married again, but he enjoved in his home the friendship of many who were not friends alone in name, but in the deepest senti- ments of the heart. His conversational powers, we are told, were unequalled ; and what enhanced the charm was his utter unconsciousness of possessing such in any eminent degree ; he communicated the most interesting truths in a manner all the more agreeable, as he was not conscious of saying anything not already familiar to his hearers. Sometimes he would entertain his friends by ren- dering into English the famous Paris editions of Voltaire's plays. He was an admirable reader, and his translations were ready and unequalled, so that it was considered a great treat to listen to him. He was well versed in ancient, as well as modern lan- guages, reading the Old Testament in Hebrew, and the New in Greek. His Latin was said to be good, but he took greater pleasure in the living languages and translated well from the Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Napoleon is said to have remarked to Berthier, the Minister of War, that Freneau's translations of his bulletins were the only correct ones. Berthier communicated this fact to the French minister. Pierre's reading was extensive ; he devoted most of his time to it, taking a book into his hand almost as soon as he entered the house. In his early life he had started a paper called the ^^ " Charleston City Gazette," which obtained a vast controlling influence throughout the entire State ; and it continued to increase until it was a complete political lever, he himself being a host. Pierre was peculiarly fitted for the position of editor, as he had a wide range of general knowledge and information ; and ^ This lady afterwards married Mr. de Pau of New York. \i4o\ The Poet of the Revolution he wrote with the greatest ease and facility, being seldom obliged to make an erasure. His style of composition is said to have combined the smoothness and beauty of Addison with the simplicity of Cobbett; his wit was ready, and he occasionally indulged in versification. Decided in advancing his own opinions, he was nevertheless just, and even liberal, to those that thought differently from him ; and no difference in political opinion ever caused a loss of his many warm- hearted and devoted friends. In politics he maintained the Republican-Democratic party, and remained ever identified with it. His paper was, even before Jeffer- son's administration, the journal of the State as \yell as of the citv, but after the nomination of the latter for the presidency, the patronage of the general gov- ernment was added. Jefferson was warmly attached to Pierre, and kept up a correspondence with him, as did many other prominent men. Unfortunately, many of his letters and papers were burned in the fire which consumed Philip's residence at Mount Pleasant. Of one of these letters we are fortunate enough to have a copy. It reads as follows : — Washington, May 20, 1803. Dear Sir, — I received last night from Paris the enclosed small parcel of Egyptian rice. I am not informed of its merits, but your's being the State where that can be best tried, I take the liberty of consigning it to your care, that we may be availed of whatever good it may oifer. The New York election no doubt attracted your attention from the inflated hopes of the Federalists. From a concurrence of circumstances they had been out with all their boldness. One source of their delusion was that they were so desirous of war themselves that they really believed the nation desired it. Never was defeat more complete ; in Jersey it is confidently believed we shall have 29 members out of 52 which con- Philip Freneau stitute both houses ; in Massachusetts we have gained two senators more than we had last year, and it is believed that in the election of representatives now going on, we shall gain also. In Connecticut we have lost greatly in their house of representatives, yet in the whole body of the people we have unquestionably gained, as is proved by the votes for Governor. Last year the votes for Trumbull and Kirby were 1 0,000 to 4523 ; this year they are 14,300 to 7848 ; so that the last year of 100 parts of the whole voters, the Federalists had 71 and the Republicans 29 ; this year, of 100 parts of the whole voters the Federalists had 65, and the Republicans 35. We have ad- vanced then from 29 to 35, or 1, while they have fallen from 71 to 65, or Jj. In New Hampshire they appear to have been more stationary. Delaware is entirely equivocal and uncer- tain. On the whole there is no doubt of republicanism gaining the entire ascendency in New England within a moderate time and consolidating; the union into one homog-eneous mass. In Philadelphia some heats have been excited against the leav- ing any Federalists in office, but these are softening down to moderation, while in the other states generally the course which has been pursued, altho' thought to have gone too far into removal, is acquiesced in and on the whole approved. We laid it down as a principal, in the beginning, that the Federalists had a right to a participation of office proportioned to their numbers ; they in fact professed all. We removed a few in marked cases ; we determined to remove all others who should take an active and bitter part against the order of things established by the public bill. Removals for this cause and for other delinquencies, resignations, and deaths have nearly given us our full proportion of office in all the States except Massachusetts. I speak of these offices only which are given by the President himself; the subordinate ones are left to their principals. At present, therefore, as from an early period of the administration, political principle, unless producing active opposition, is not a ground for removal, altho' it is as yet a bar to appointment, until the just proportion is fully restored. A letter begun with a view to cover a few deeds, and to say a word about elections, has led to a length not at first contem- plated. Desirous, however, that the principles of our proceed- ings should be understood, I explain them to no one more T'he Poet of the Revolution willingly than yourself, because I am sure you will use them with prudence and sincerity for the information and satisfaction of others when occasions may lead you to an expression of senti- ment. Should it be the means of giving me the advantage of receiving communications sometimes from you on the politi- cal state of things in your quarter, it will contribute to that information so desirable to myself, and so necessary to enable me to do what is best for the public interest. I pray you to accept my salutations, and utterances of esteem and respect. Th. Jefferson. Peter's influence was extended and widely felt ; and had he any personal ambition, there is no position in the power of the State to give that he could not have obtained, if he had manifested any desire for it. Although Freneau was so well fitted for the position of an editor, he was not so well qualified for that of a proprietor, as he was nothing of a business man ; and his friend adds that it would be difficult to say, at times which was in the greatest confusion, his private affairs or those of the establishment. Over two hundred more papers than were needed were printed daily, and made way with by the slaves attached to the office. In the year 1810 he gave the paper into the hands of his friend Mr. Thomas, and was after that time Director of the State Bank. After the paper had passed from his hands, his intimate friend Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Colonel Lehre met at' his house, as they were accustomed to do pending election, but this time it was for a special purpose. Knowing how impossible it was for Peter ever to say no, they asked him to request Mr. Thomas, the acting editor of the paper, to uphold a certain candidate they were desirous of having elected ; and they took this way of accomplishing their end, conscious of the unwillingness of the editor to further the candidacy, yet also knowing that he could never refuse his friend anything that he asked of him. Philip Freneau Freneau for some years held the office of Commis- sioner of Loans for the State of South Carolina ; and was several times member of the State Legislature, in which his services were said to be alike creditable to himself and useful to the State. Desirous of knowing how long he filled the position of Secretary of State, we applied to the corresponding secretary of the South Carolina Historical Society, and received in reply : " Concerning Peter Freneau, once an honored citizen of this State, I gather that he was Secretary of State in the years from 1788 to 94 inclusive;^ there is no list of State officers for 1795, ^^^ ^ '^^^ name appears in the office for 1796. So long a tenure of office as was that of your honored relative Peter Freneau is very uncommon," etc. Peter's inability to say no, and his readiness to oblige his friends, frequently got him into serious diffi- culties, as he too often went security for them and was thereby the loser. It was owing to this virtue, or fault, according to the different ways of viewing it, that he for the first time in his life was known to lose his wonted cheerfulness. An old and dear friend had indorsed his paper, and he became alarmed lest this friend should suffer on his account. He called upon an intimate acquaintance and informed him that the note would go to protest that day, as he was unable to meet it unless the former could loan him the money for the present. His friend, not having the amount on hand, promised it the next day and invited Peter to dine with him, which invitation Freneau refused. Something in his manner attracted the attention of the other, and he shortly after called at Freneau's office. Entering softly, he was not perceived until he laid his hand upon Peter's shoulder. The latter was absorbed in his writing, and, starting, looked up into his visitor's face. Four notes lay folded upon the desk, the upper 1 Freneau held the office eight years altogether. The Poet of the Revolution one being addressed to the visitor. In a moment the intention of Freneau flashed upon his friend, but he pretended not to notice anything, saying quietly, " Fre- neau, give me your word of honor that I shall find you here one hour hence," adding, " I am on my way to the notary's." Peter's face evinced how a mighty mind could be shaken and even overcome by the tempest of adversity, but he gave the desired promise. The friend hastened to the bank and had the note de- layed until the next day, and hurried back to Freneau's office. The note had disappeared, and in a slight de- gree the old cheerfulness had returned. His friend remained with him till late, avoiding any allusion to what had happened, merely saying that all would be satisfactorily arranged in the morning ; and the serious danger with which his friend was threatened was never known, and he adds, " he lived to be the delight of his friends for several years." With talents fitted for any station, his friend tells us, he nevertheless wished to retire from active life that he might be able to enjoy seclusion and the society of his books and friends in peace ; conse- quently he began to build a cottage in the interior of the State, intending to spend there the remainder of his days. Desirous of visiting the workmen, although dissuaded by his friends, he went there, trusting to the perfect condition of his health to insure him against the dangers of the miasma, so fatal at that time of the year. He remained there over a week, and returned apparently in perfect health, and with his usual flow of spirits, but was soon after taken very ill. The de- voted attention of his friends and the best medical advice were of no avail ; he was constantly watched by the daughter of one of his old friends, but Death had marked him for his prey, and on the fifth day he succumbed. His strong constitution was so completely exhausted that for some time before his death he did Pbi/ip Froicciu not utter ;i ct''^"''^'^ '^'^ even sigh, :ind scarcely seemed to breathe ; and " thus ended the Hfe of a man, who, to transcendent talents united that amiabihty of tem- per and benevolence of heart that made him the friend of his race." ••••l^his all who knew him know. This all who loved him tell. Whose like we ne'er shall look upon again." In appearance, Freneau resembled to such a remark- able dei^ree the great British statesman Fox that a tViend purposclv brought a portrait of the latter with him on his return from England to deceive his ac- quaintances ; who, knowing Frcneau's aversion to sit- ting tor his portrait, would exclaim upon seeing it on the mantelpiece, " How did vou come by Freneau's portrait ? " and not alone in phvsique did Peter re- semble the great statcsnian, but in his mental calibre also. In heii^ht he was six t-eet two inches, and ot such pertect proportions and beauty ot countenance that one would say " every god did seem to set his seal to give the world assurance of a man." Mr, Thomas, his devoted friend, took charge of his funeral, which was largelv attended, and he was buried in the French Huguenot church in Charleston. His epitaph reads : — " ll"-.:tcvn' Omnlpzitnct dtcxdts h right. " Below this marble are deposited the remains of Peter Fre- neau, Esq. A native of New Jersey, but for more than thirty years past a citi/en of South Carolina. He ^vas the second son of Peter Freneau and Agnes Watson, born April 5th, 175". Died Nov. 9th, A. D. 1S13, :v. titty-six years seven months and tour days. His upright and benevolent character is in the memory of many, and will remain when this inscrip- tion is no louijer k\:,ible. He w.is Soeretarv of State of South Carolina eight years." Chapter Ninth THE year 1789 was an Important one in Fre- neau's life, as during that period there occurred two events that covered the entire course of his fiiture, — the one shaping his private, and the other his political lite. The first of these events was that of his marriage with Eleanor, daughter of Samuel and Helen Denise Forman, a prominent and wealthy family of New Jersey, which had, and has since that time, given to the country a sjalaxy of names which have reflected honor on the land of their birth, and occupied prom- inent places on its roll of honor, in military as well as civil affairs. Eleanor's two brothers and cousin served in the Revolutionary War, — the latter. General David For- man, being familiarly known as " Black David," on account of his excessive severity towards those who did not favor the Revolution. This officer ably com- manded the New Jersey militia in the battle of Ger- mantown, which engagement, in reality a defeat, was considered as advantageous to the Americans as a victory. In it the genius of Washington and the bravery and discipline of the army showed to such advantage as to rank it in the eyes of all Europe as nearly on an equality with the surrender of Burgoyne, and as to cause Frederic of Prussia to acknowledge the formidable power the American army might be- come, as well as to decide the French Court to con- sider us as allies.^ After the war General Forman 1 John Fiskc, in Atlantic Monthly. Philip Freneau was a member of the Council of State, and Judge of the County Court. He was also one of the original members of the Order of The Cincinnati. Eleanor's eldest brother, Colonel Jonathan For- man, married a sister of Colonel William Ledyard, of whom we have spoken in the preceding chapter ; their grandchildren were Horatio Seymour, who mar- ried into the Bleecker family, and was several times Governor of New York State, and a candidate for the Presidency,^ and John Seymour, who married in the Tappan family ; his granddaughters married, the one. Judge Miller of Utica ; another, Roscoe Conkling ; and, a third her cousin, Ledyard Lincklaen, whose daughter married Charles S. Fairchild, Secretary of the Treasury during Cleveland's first administration. Eleanor Freneau's second brother. Captain Denise Forman, married into the Kearny family to which Philip's step-father belonged. This family, trebly re- lated to Freneau, gave Major-General Philip Kearny^ to the country. The daughter of Eleanor's third brother, Major Samuel Forman, married General Rensselaer Van Rensselaer, and her eldest sister, Cath- erine, married Colonel William Ledyard, thus forming a double connection with that family. Catherine's eldest son. Major Benjamin Ledyard, married the daughter of Freneau's old college-mate, Brockholst Livingston, and consequently the niece of John Jay's wife ; and his son ^ married a daughter of General Cass. Catherine's other grandchildren formed double rela- ^ Governor Thomas Seymour of Comiecticut was also a relative. 2 Philip Kearny married Susan, daughter of John Watts and Jane Colden a sister of Cadwallader Colden. This John Watts was son of John Watts senior and Ann Delancey ; Philip was father of General Philip Kearny. 3 A son of this gentleman is now President of the Michigan Central Railroad, viz., Mr. Henrj- Ledyard, father of the Baroness Von Kettler, whose husband was killed in China, when minister to that country from Germany. "The Poet of the Revolution tionships with the families of Seymour and Fairchild ; and another of them married into the Fitzhugh family ; and through their child, a triple connection was formed with the Seymour family. Eleanor's second sister, Margaret, married Major Burrows. Major Gordon, a graduate of Princeton College of the class of 1786, was likewise a relative of hers. Eleanor is said to have been distinguished for her well informed mind, sprightliness of disposition, elegance of manner, affability, and excellent conver- sational powers ; and she is said to have retained these qualities, as well as much of her personal beauty, to her old age. She was intimately acquainted with many distinguished personages, and was a charming hostess, in her husband's residence at Mount Pleasant as well as in Philadelphia. Mrs. Freneau had a poetic taste and wrote with ease ; her compositions are said to have been distinguished by character and intelli- gence. She corresponded for some time before her marriage with Freneau in verse. An amusing anecdote is told of her sprightliness before her marriage. In one of Freneau's visits she left him to entertain the other members of the family, and, slipping from the room while he was thus engaged, she dexterously sheared off some of the superfluous capes attached to his outer garment, such as we have already spoken of as having been in vogue ; whether they were displeas- ing to her as being old-fashioned, or for some other reason, she probably stated in the verses in which she commemorated the feat, and which she enclosed to him. Her writings were consumed in the conflagra- tion at Mount Pleasant, but in a paper of the day -^ is found an extract from a letter of hers to her brother Samuel, he having removed with his family, consisting of his wife and one child who afterwards married General Van Rensselaer, to central New York. 1 Evening Post. Philip Frencau " I am forever thinking of you and our other dear friends fn that new country .^ Had you and they been situated nearer to^^ether, and nearer to me, I should then care more tor the world than 1 do. Mv two little girls and books are my chief comforters. I wish it was in my power to send you out as good a collection of the latter as we have here. You would not feel the loss of friendship and the want of company as much as vou do. We must endeavor to make ourselves as independent of the world as possible, and let our own minds furnish us with that pleasure which too many are in search of abroad. ... I know vou will make the best use of vour soli- tude. Mr. Freneau joins me in much love to you." ^ The second great event of the year 1789 was the adoption of" the Constitution, and its consequence, the inauguration of Washington as the hrst President of the United States. In one of the centennial publica- tions in the year 1809, it was said that the President elect was met at Elizabethtown by a joint committee of Congress and escorted to New York, and that Philip Freneau, who afterward, as editor of the " National Gazette," made it hot for the Washington administration, accompanied the party across the bay, and in the excitement of the occasion probably huzzahed with the loudest. Another version is that he came up the bay from Charleston on the day of the proces- sion, but he would not run up his colors in honor of the event. xA-s the subject is an open one, we leave our readers to beheve which they choose ; we prefer the former. Upon the attendant ceremony it was Freneau's relative, the Right Reverend Samuel Provost, that conducted the rehgious services in old Saint Paul's Church.s 1 Cavuga and Cazenovia Lakes. - This brother died in Syracuse, New York, in 1S62. 8 It is said that when the question of holding services on the day of the inauguration was agitated and Bishop Provost was appealed to on the sub- ject, he said that he had aln-ays been used to look up to the Government upon such occasions, and he thought it prudent not to do anything till The Poet of the Revolution Although the oath of office was administered, and the Constitution went into operation the last day of April, it was not until the fall of the year that any important step was taken. After the Cabinet and judges of the Supreme Court were chosen, the next matter was to decide upon the location of the future capital of the nation. New York was not willing to cede the amount of territory required, therefore it was decided to remove to Philadelphia for the period of ten years. A certain writer,^ in praising Philadelphia, and after enumerating all the various ports at which she traded, her schools, and other advantages, adds : "In fact, there may be obtained the knowledge of the arts and sciences, and here may be had, on any day of the week, tarts, pies, cake, etc. ; and no jealousy amongst men, and no old maids." It seems quite evident, after this panegyric, why Congress selected this tavored city in which to hold its sessions. Undoubtedly the an- ticipation of regaling themselves in their recesses upon the tarts, pies, etc., had great weight with those upon whom the selection devolved ; and does not the tact go to prove that in reality woman was the tactor that transformed this charming city of " Brotherly Love " into the. city of Brotherly Discord it eventually became, and of introducing some jealous men into it ? for a writer has said, " Man is what he eats, and woman is the caterer." Tarts, pies, and cake were the modern apple, the fair caterer the modern Eve ; and, tempting the modern Adam, " he did eat ; " and the modern Eden became a modern Babel. However it was, Congress in removing itself to other quarters greatly discomfited the residents of they knew what Government would direct. Eben Hazard, hearing this, said : " If the good bishop never prays without an order from Govern- ment it is not probable that the kingdom of heaven will sutler much from his violence." (Bowen, in Century Magazine.) * Gabriel Thomas. I ^51 ] Philip Freneau New York City. No more public fetes and court balls ; no more state pageants and processions ; no more president, senators, or legislature. Freneau, too, was disappointed, as he had made arrangements to edit a paper in New York, called " The Daily Adver- tiser," but it would seem from a letter written by him to Madison, dated July 25, 179 1, that the latter had offered him some inducements to go to Philadel- phia. Freneau writes from Middletown Point, New Jersey, saying that he is detained there by some pressing business, but that if he should meet Madison upon his return to New York, which would be in a few days, he would then give him a definite answer relative to printing his paper at the seat of govern- ment, instead of in New York as he had intended. Freneau eventually succeeded in exchanging the " Ad- vertiser" for the "National Gazette" of Philadelphia, and the first number appeared under his direction in October of the year 1791. The revenues of the country had been well drained for the expenses of the war, and the indebtedness of the States amounted to eighty million dollars, — an immense debt for an impoverished country. The princely fortune of Robert Morris had gone to pay his country's debts, and the fortunes of many others had gone in the same way. Affairs were bordering on bankruptcy, the colonial currency had depreciated to a few cents on the dollar, and the treasury existed only in name. Literary work, not being an absolute necessity, was below par ; and, as we know, the loss of his fine ship, the " Aurora," had sadly crippled the resources of Freneau, who had now a family to support, and an estate and slaves to maintain. It may have been to add something to his small editorial revenue that he accepted the proposition to become foreign translator to the Department of State, with the paltry salary of two hundred and fifty dollars per The Poet of the Revolution annum. It may have been, as some thought, that he accepted the position through some political motive. Amongst the Jefferson papers one may find the pro- posal made Freneau in the handwriting of, and signed by, the Secretary of State ; it runneth thus : — Philadelphia, Feb. 28, 1791. Sir, — The clerkship for foreign languages in my office is vacant ; the salary, indeed, is very low, being but two hundred and fifty dollars a year; but also it gives so little to do as not to interfere with any other calling one may chuse, which would not absent him from the seat of government. I was told a i&H, AM fMgB, r«r^4i*ii M n.ll ^mt^ m*rt fartr, (ttu • kit^hiffrrf, $»4t'»t^,f »i^f,f^^4 .fc*,.thu H c^Lc'Vu."^ '^1^; FACSIMILK OK \ATIO\AL (;A/KT'rE "The Poet of the Revolution a good deal excited the public attention, I took for granted from Freneau's character, which had been marked as that of a good Whig, that he would give free place to pieces written against the aristocratical and monarchical principles these papers had inculcated. "This having been in my mind, it is likely enough I may have expressed it in conversation with others, though I do not recollect that I did ; to Freneau I think I could not, because I had still seen him but once, and that was at a public table at breakfast at Mrs. Ellsworth's, as I passed through New York the last year ; and I can safely declare that my expectations looked only to the chastisement of the aristocratical and mo- narchical writers, and not to any criticisms on the proceedings of the government. Colonel Hamilton can see no motive for any appointment but that of making a convenient partisan; but you. Sir, who have received from me recommendations of a Rittenhouse, Barlow, Paine, will believe that talent and science are sufficient motives with me in appointments to which they are fitted, and that Freneau, as a man of genius, might find a preference in my eye to be a translating clerk, and make good title, moreover, to the little aids I could give him as the editor of a gazette, by procuring subscriptions to his paper as I did, — some before it appeared, — and as I have with pleasure done for the labors of men of genius. As to the merits or demerits of his paper, they certainly concern me not. He and Fenno are rivals for the public favor. The latter courts them by flattery, the former by censure, and I believe it will be admitted that the latter has been as servile as the former severe. But is not the dignity and even decency of government committed when one of its principal ministers enlists himself as an anonymous writer, or para- graphist, for either the one or the other of them ? No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free, no one ever will. If virtuous it need not fear the fair operation of attack and defence ; nature has given to man no other means of sifting out the truth, either in religion, law, or politics. I think it as honorable to the government neither to know nor notice its sycophants or censors as it would be undignified and criminal to pamper the former and persecute the latter." Philip Freneau It was a time of fierce political excitement ; the new Constitution not being in fair working order, was consequently exposed in its weakest point, that of its infancy, to the attack of its adversaries. The "National Gazette" is said to have been, under Fre- neau, a powerful political paper ; and for Jefferson to have such a powerful machine with which to fling his weapons at the heads of the government did not appear a very agreeable prospect to the opposite party. In speaking of the keenness and readiness of these weapons, Mr. Benjamin says, " What Tyrtaeus was to the Spartans, was Freneau to the Republicans or anti- Federalists." Certainly he did a work, and a great one in his own way, for often what can be accom- pHshed by no other means may be by ridicule, wit, and irony ; and these Freneau could always bring to his aid. The first, a German critic has compared to a blow of the fist, the second to the irritating prick of a needle, and the third to the prick of a thorn. In 1 79 1 the Secretary of the Treasury proposed a " Bank of the United States," but this plan Jefferson violently opposed, deeming it unconstitutional and of a dangerous character, considering the feeling then existing in the Southern States ; but Hamilton carried his point, and the bank was chartered in the same year, with ten million dollars as capital. The anti-Federal- ists were much opposed to this bank, and Freneau, who was always able, when pressed, to bring his muse to his aid, composed some doggerel for the occasion; it probably served to let off a little of his surplus steam : — *' George, on thy virtues often have I dwelt, And still the theme is grateful to mine ear. Thy gold let chemists ten times over smelt, From dross and base alloy they '11 find it clear. {i6o\ The Poet of the Revolution Yet thou 'rt a man, although perhaps the first, But man at best is but a being frail ; And since with error human nature 's curst, I marvel not that thou shouldst sometimes fail. That thou hast long and nobly served the state. The nation owns znA freely gives thee thanks; But Sir ! whatever speculators prate — She gave thee not the power to 'stablish banks." Nevertheless, the " Bank of the United States" con- tinued until President Jackson's time ; but he, having always been its implacable enemy, vetoed the renewal of the charter in 1831; and at its expiration in 1836 it died the death, involving many interested in it. This act of Jackson's was considered a stroke of wisdom, but Freneau did not live to see it accomplished ; he died the year before the renewal of the charter was vetoed. One of the criticisms to which the newly framed Constitution was subjected was that of developing as much of a monarchical form of government, as well as its etiquette, as was possible. It was well known that the Secretary of the Treasury was in favor of curtailing State sovereignty and investing the federal authority with as great an amount of prestige as was consistent with a republican form of government ; and that the Vice-President, according to his own words, considered the " love of superiority and desire of distinction, admi- ration, and applause the great springs of human activity, at least in all that related to politics, and that no govern- ment could be secure or permanent which did not pro- vide for the reasonable gratification as well as for the due restraint of this principal passion ; and that there- fore a certain mixture of aristocracy and monarchy was necessary to that balance of interests and senti- ments without which free governments could not exist." It was also well known that the chief magistrate in- clined to English etiquette, as well as towards govern- [^/] [ 161 ] Philip Freneau ment ceremonial. His intercourse with Congress was modelled upon that of the English kings, being in person, — a committee having first perfected all the attendant ceremonies. Washington has given us a description of the cere- monial. He drove there, he writes, — ••' in a coach drawn by six horses preceded by Colonel Hum- phrey and Major Johnson, in uniform, on my two white horses, and followed by Messrs. Lear and Nelson in my chariot, Mr. Lewis on horseback following them. In their rear was the Chief Justice of the United States and the secretaries of the Treasury and War Department (Hamilton and Knox) in their respective carriages, and in the order they are named. At the outer door I was met by the doorkeepers of the Senate and House and was conducted to the door of the Senate cham- ber, and passing from thence to the chair, through the Senate on the right and the House on the left, I took my seat. " The gentlemen who attended me followed and took their stand behind the senators, the whole rising as I entered. After being seated, at which time the members of both Houses also sat, I rose, as they also did, and made my speech, delivering one copy to the President of the Senate and another to the speaker of the House of Representatives, after which and being a i&vf minutes seated, I retired, bowing on each side to the assembly (who stood) as I passed, and, descending to the lower hall, attended as before, I returned with them to my house." Mr. Peter Gerard Stuyvesant, at a banquet in 1839, said that Washington seldom walked in the street; his public recreation was in riding. When accompanied by Mrs. Washington, he rode in a carriage drawn by six Virginia bays with two outriders, who wore rich livery, cocked hats with cockades, and powder. When he rode on horseback he was accompanied by one or more of the gentlemen of his family, and attended by his outriders. The state carriage was of English make, — a very large cream-colored chariot of globular form, surrounded by cupids supporting festoons of flowers "The Poet of the Revolution emblematically arranged around the panel-work ; the whole being covered with best coach-glass. This display, it has been remarked, had the effect of repressing the spirits of those who approached the chief magistrate, and many comments were passed upon it, as it seemed to savor too much of the royalty which had been banished from the land. Mr. Joseph Dennie, the editor, remarked that " although the genius of our government is republican, yet our conversation partakes much of the old leaven of monarchy," The presi- dential levees and Mrs. Washington's parties people thought " imitated too much the pomps and maxims of the Court." Freneau held that Americans embrac- ing the new and republican form of government should leave behind all that savored of the maxims and prejudices of the old regime, and become identi- fied with the manner of life they profess to embrace ; he therefore attacked all this ceremonial most unspar- ingly, going, it is said, sometimes beyond all bounds, and consequently drawing upon himself the attacks of the opposite party. In 1792 Washington was a second time unanimously elected president; and he had scarcely entered upon his second term of office in the spring of '93, when France declared war with Holland; and in April Washington announced his intention of maintaining strict neu- trality; his proclamation to that effect provoked great discussion. The French government, desirous of gain- ing the Americans to espouse its cause, appointed Citizen Edmund Charles Genest, written in America Genet, as ambassador to the United States ; for, al- though his father was attached to the Court of France, and his sister, Madame Campan, was in the service of Marie Antoinette, he had espoused the cause of the republican party. Young Genet was already skilled in the art of diplomacy, having studied it in the school of his father; and he began to put it in practice Philip Freneau immediately upon his landing. He was received in Charleston, at which port he landed, with the greatest enthusiasm. His journey to the capital consumed an entire month, and his progress was a complete ovation. Upon reaching Gray's Ferry at Philadelphia, a large portion of the population went out to meet and wel- come Genet, and he was conducted in triumph to the city, where he was tendered an address congratulating France upon obtaining the freedom she had helped the United States to secure. In the evening a ban- quet was given in his honor, during the course of which Freneau was requested to translate the French ode written by Duponceau, the singing of which is said to have been one of the items of the festival. The French republic was looking anxiously to this country tor aid in its conflict with Europe, and espe- cially upon the ocean, where it was conducting an un- equal fight with Great Britain, whom it looked upon as a mutual enemy ; it therefore confidently expected from the United States the assistance it had rendered her in her time of need. Freneau, along with others, was desirous of a coalition with France ; therefore, de- claring himself in favor of Genet, he threw himself heart and soul into the projected plan of uniting the two republics in a bond ot brotherhood. To this plan, however, Washington lent a deaf ear, and finding him inflexible, Genet formed the audacious design of ap- pealing from the President to the people. Encouraged by his warm reception in the country. Genet strove to arouse sentiments of enthusiasm towards France, notwithstanding the refusal of the President; how he succeeded, the chaos into which he threw the country can best describe. A sort of insanity seemed to have taken possession of the most serious minds, and even in the Cabinet there were warm and violent discussions. Jefferson, fearing it impossible to preserve neutralitv considering the ill- [ 7<5^ ] • "The Poet of the Revolution concealed bad will of England, thought it well to secure a union with France, that in case of a rupture we might look upon her as an ally. Genet now audaciously empowered the French con- suls throughout the States to hold courts of admiralty, and try and condemn prizes brought to port. He also fitted out privateers, and commissioned officers, and enlisted men in the interests of France. He organized Jacobin clubs, and introduced the red cock- ade, and liberty-caps, in which Dr. Francis says he himself delighted as an urchin to appear; and not alone did urchins like him delight in them, but sedate men like " Robert Goodloe Harper^ appeared in the bonnet rouge, with grace and dignity." Liberty-poles crowned with red liberty-caps were also raised in the public places. The popular dislike to England now seemed deter- mined to assert itself All that savored of that coun- try was ostracized, and in proportion arose an affection for the struggling French republic. When the French officers made their appearance, or their marines were met in the streets, the boys would cry, " Vive la Re- publique ! " At night the streets were musical with La Marseillaise and La Carmagnole. Dr. Francis says that he delighted to shout the latter at the top of his voice while wearing the bonnet rouge. I have never heard that Freneau donned one of these caps, but the thing is not in the least improbable. Many French people now came from their colonies, and gave a new impetus to American simplicity. Dress, manners, and customs were a la fram^aise. Jewelry, ornaments, perfumes, and bonbons were of French designs and make. French boarding-houses hung out their signs, and French restaurants were all the style ; they introduced the use of soups, salads, ragouts, fricassees and olive oil ; and none but French 1 Son-in-law to Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. Philip Freneau bread could be tolerated. Even the English dances were no longer in vogue, and the stately minuet gave way to the lively cotillon, and public fetes were organ- ized. " In fact, it required," as John Fanning Wat- son remarked, " all the prudence of Washington to stem the torrent of passion that flowed in favor of France to the prejudice of our nationality." Party spirit rose during this French period to such a degree that intimate friends became the bitterest enemies, and those who had formerly always exchanged friendly greetings now crossed the street to avoid a meeting. In the midst of all this confusion, and in the heated month of August, that dreadful scourge the yellow fever broke out, and its malignancy spread terror in all directions. The consternation which seized the already highly excited population is said to be beyond powers of description. Many fled from the city, and those who remained shut themselves up in their houses ; and when obliged to go into the streets they walked in the middle of them to avoid, as much as possible, the infected air of the houses ; a cold nod of recognition was all that friends vouchsafed to each other. Pedestrians carried in their hands tarred ropes or kept them in their pockets ; some wore bags of camphor on their persons ; others chewed garlic, or held handkerchiefs steeped in vinegar to their faces. In the houses either gunpowder, tobacco, nitre, or vinegar was kept burning, and men, women, and children puffed at cigars continually. The outdoor air was rendered lurid and heavy by the burning of tar and tar-barrels in every street. Dead bodies were constantly met with as they were borne to some open grave, into which they were dumped as quickly as possible, the graves or holes being left open for the next body. The bodies of most respectable persons were taken on the shafts of [ i(>(> ] "The Poet of the Revolution a one-horse chaise, driven by a negro, to be dumped like the rest. Those fortunate enough to be taken in hearses were unattended, and at their sight every one fled in consternation. Masters sent their servants away on the first suspicion of the dreaded disease, and servants abandoned their masters ; many persons died from lack of care, and frequently dead bodies were found in the streets. This dreadful state of affairs lasted from the latter part of August till some time in September. Notwithstanding this terrible scourge, there was no mitigation of party animosity ; and Greenleaf with his " Argus," and Freneau with his " National Gazette," only increased the general consternation. Genet, by his imprudent measures, obliged Wash- ington to request his recall ; but he decided not to return to France, and instead become a naturalized citizen of the United States. He eventually married the daughter of Governor Clinton, the anti-Federalist Governor of New York State. This marriage was celebrated in the Walton Mansion, as we stated in a previous chapter. An article on Genet, which we are not able to place, it being a fragment written in pencil, but undoubtedly copied, runs : " 1 have spoken of Genet with severity ; he labors under reproach by every historian who has recorded his deeds, and by none is he more chastised than by Judge Marshall ; yet, withal, Genet possessed a kindly nature, was exuberant in speech, of lively parts, and surcharged with anecdotes. His intellectual culture was consider- able ; he was master of several living languages, a proficient in music, as well as a skilful performer. To remarks I made to him, touching his execution on the piano, he subjoined : ' I have given many hours daily for twelve years to this instrument, and I now reach some effective sounds.' He had a genius for mechan- ics, and after he had become an agriculturist in this [ r(>7 ] Philip Frcneau country, wrote on machinery and on husbandry. He assured me (in 1812) the time would arrive when his official conduct as minister would be cleared of its dark shades. ' To other shoulders,' said he, ' will be transferred the odium I now bear.' In a conversa- tion with him on the vicissitudes and events of the French Revolution, he said : ' Their leaders were novices ; had they been versed in Albany politics but for three months, we would have escaped many trials, and our patriotism been crowned with better results." It is to be regretted that the papers of Genet have not yet seen the light ; they embrace letters from Voltaire and Rousseau, and years of correspondence with emi- nent American statesmen, down to the close of his eventful life. He died at Jamaica, Long Island, in i8^'?4, aged seventy-one years." The troubles that grew out of this unhappv season caused a rupture between Hamilton and Jeffisrson that never died out, and was the origin of the two political parties of Federalists and Republicans, which were headed by their respective founders. Washington was greatly annoyed at the course the " National Gazette " had pursued throughout, and Hamilton attacked Jefferson for his official support of the troublesome editor, to which attack Jefferson replied that a man should not be ostracized for his political opinions, or for freedom of speech, and that his paper had saved the Constitution which was galloping tast into monarchv and had been stopped by no means so powerful as by that paper, which had checked the career of the monocrats. Towards the close of this eventful vear Jeffi^rson resigned his position in the Cabinet, and Frcneau re- tired from the editorship of the Gazette. His work had been o^ a prettv hot character, but it was directed to the end for which he had, from the first, toiled and struggled. Mr. Benjamin, in speaking of his effiDrts, [ 16S ] The Poet of the Revolution has said : " Amid all the excitement and warfare of words which attended the adoption of the new Con- stitution, wc observe one figure who, next to Washing- ton, Jefferson, and Hamilton, appears to assume a prominence superior to that of all others engaged in the political contest, — not so much by the weight of his intellect, as by his versatility and vivacity, and the readiness and keenness of the weapons he brought to the warfare; and in all the history of American letters or of the United States press, there is no figure more interesting or remarkable, no career more ver- satile and varied than that of Philip Freneau ; his mind was highly original and independent, and his paper spoke its mind without fear or favor, and even criti- cised the father of his country, whom many suspected of monarchical tendencies. Jefferson declared that the paper had saved the Constitution. In the ' Gazette ' the administration was arraigned in bitterest terms. The paper was an immense political one under him. Some thought it all for good, others all for evil." It does not seem that there was any personal feel- ing against Freneau ; even his adversaries said : " I'he charges which have been brought against the editor of the 'National Gazette,* as he himself states them to be, are no otherwise personal charges than as they designate the person against whom they are made. In their application to Mr. Freneau, they affect him solely in his capacity of editor of a public paper which may justly be condemned in a public capacity and in relation to matters of public or national concern." In the American Encyclopaedia it is stated that in later life Freneau had admitted that Jefferson was the author of some violent articles against the govern- ment under Washington. It has also been stated that Freneau had made an affidavit to the same effect as Jefferson's letter to Washington in which he calls upon Heaven to witness that he had never written, \j6c)\ Philip Freneau suggested, nor dictated any articles against the govern- ment that had not borne his signature. That letter was dated 1792, and an article attacking Freneau's affidavit was also dated the same year. Freneau's affi- davit and Jefferson's strong denial may have covered the time up to which they were made, yet after that event Jefferson may have written articles for the paper, as it continued under Freneau until the end of Octo- ber, 1793. It is not at all probable that Freneau would perjure himself even to save a friend dearer than Jefferson. Through all Freneau's writings there seems to be the greatest respect and veneration for the name of the Almighty ; and his hatred of untruth or insincerity in any form is well known ; it breathes forth in almost every line of his poetry, and often to his own prejudice. He could hardly have expressed his open disgust of Rivington's duplicity, were he guilty of false swearing. It is pleasing to know that although Freneau bit- terly arraigned the government, and Washington's policy, there was no personal feeling between himself and Washington, Freneau always admired and praised the latter's character, and he has dedicated several poems to him ; he has mentioned him in highest terms in others.^ Even during the fierce times we have related there appears one headed, — On Washington, a Truly Good Man. **Justum et tenacem propositi virum." Freneau's daughter Agnes, Mrs. Edward Leadbeater, over a decade of years deceased, remembered having seen Washington at her father's house, and has several 1 Some satirical verses against Washington, signed, " Jonathan Pindar," have been credited to Freneau, although it was proved that they were written by George Tucker, editor of " Blackstone's Commentaries," first Am. edition. These verses unfortunately appeared in the "Gazette." Tucker is well known as an author. T^he Poet of the Revolution times, when a child, sat upon his lap. She related an amusing story of an old slave in her father's family, named Aunt Stine, who boasted of having been ad- dressed by Washington upon opening the door for him, when calling upon her master. Mrs. Leadbeater's oldest child having been born in Philadelphia, she was returning with it to Mount Pleasant, Aunt Stine ac- companying her to carry the infant. They had taken their seats in the public coach, when the postilion called out that there was "a nigger inside," which was probably contrary to custom. Mrs. Leadbeater turned to her stage companions, strangers to her, and said that if her maid would not be allowed to ride inside she herself would be obliged to leave the coach, as she was not strong enough to carry the infant. Her com- panions at once expressed their perfect willingness to enjoy Aunt Stine's company, and the latter, trium- phant in her victory, turned to the postilion, and said : " Guess she 'd rode in better carriages than that old coach ; guess she had ridden in General Washing- ton's carriage too." In telling the story her mistress added, she supposed Aunt Stine had climbed into the General's carriage upon one of his calls upon her father. The same lady always resented it when any one spoke of her father as being an enemy of Washington. She said, on the contrary, he admired and respected him, and always spoke of him in the highest terms. It was only towards his policy that he was inimical. The same year as the withdrawal of Jefferson and Freneau from political life, saw another excitement before its close. George III. had given instructions to British privateers to seize all neutral vessels found trading in the French West Indies, but gave no notification of the fact to the United States, and American commerce was swept from the seas, to the great loss of the Government, as well as private Philip Freneau individuals. Chief-Justice Jay was sent as envoy to demand redress of the British Government, and made a treaty with Lord Granville the following year, which was ratified by the United States ; but it gave great umbrage to many Americans, as they thought too much had been conceded to the demands of Great Britain. Washington having refused a third nomination, Adams and Jefferson were nominated by the two op- posite parties ; Adams, having the greater number of votes, took the presidential oath, and Jefferson, as was then customary, became Vice-President. This election was the outcome of the question whether the United States should enter into intimate relations with France. The President refused the offers of alliance, but the Directorv demanded it and the American minister, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, was ordered to leave the country. John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry were directed to join Mr, Pinckney abroad, and along with him endeavor to adjust matters peaceably ; but the Directory refused to receive the ambassadors save upon the payment of a quarter of a million dollars into the treasury of France. To this demand Mr. Pinckney replied that the United States had millions for defence but not a cent for tribute ; consequently they were all ordered to leave the country. The adoption of the Alien and Sedition Acts, the first authorizing the President to send foreigners out of the country, threatened to lead to a great abuse of such unlimited power in the hands of one man ; and the second, which punished with imprisonment and fine the freedom oi speech of the press, savored of despot- ism, and caused the administration to become very unpopular ; so that in the following election party spirit ran very high. Adams and Pinckney were nominated bv the Federals, and Jefferson and Aaron Burr, Freneau's old classmate, bv the Republicans. "The Poet of the Revolution The election being thrown on the House of Repre- sentatives, the choice fell upon Jefferson. Upon as- suming his position the President sent for Freneau to come to the capital on " important business," and like the philosopher of old the latter sent the verbal reply : " Tell Thomas Jefferson that he knows where Philip Freneau lives, and if he has important busi- ness with him,'' let him come to Philip Freneau's house and transact it." Jefferson then tendered him an office, but Freneau declined. He had no ambition for offices, his work was done ; he asked for no recompense, and he cared not for thanks ; he had done what he thought was his duty to his country, and all he asked of it was to allow him to live and die in peace. In studying the character of Thomas Jefferson, it would seem to be composed of two elements continu- ally opposed to each other, — and rather unpleasant ones to be united in the same person. By birth and education he was certainly fitted to enjoy the first society in America; endowed with tastes excessively refined for those days, and with the instincts of a European nobleman, he nevertheless discarded every advantage his birthright gave, for the sake of his con- viction that no man was better than his neighbor; and he mingled with common people as their equal. At an early age the head of a large family, the ruling mind of all he came in contact with, ceded the highest place in school, college, home, and society, he was, notwithstanding, an ardent lover of solitude. The cherished member of a large circle of friends, wel- comed from his youth at the tables of the great, con- sidered an ornament to the exceptionally brilliant society of Williamsburg (Virginia), cultivated and shrinking from all that savored of roughness, he nevertheless shocked the sensibility of others by his ultra simplicity. Never allowing himself to deal with in3\ Philip Freneatd the imagination, entering into the minutest detail of domestic lite, calculating to a brick the amount needed for a building, yet a poetic and artistic temperament dominated his life. Popular with companions, cour- teous, cheerful, and of a sanguine temperament, his society said to have been delightful to all classes, yet, in spite of himself, making many enemies. Hating visitors and letter-writing, he had an almost feminine yearning for sympathy. Strong in physical vitality, yet of a feminine mould of character. Sensitive and peculiarly vulnerable, yet sharp and caustic in disposi- tion. Limiting the individual powers of others, and believing sincerely in the opinion of the multitude, yet given to stretch his own powers whenever vested with authority. Without reverence, and even lacking in respect for authority, he resented it extremely when others resisted him. Never at ease in the atmosphere that surrounded him in his political life, and tortured by its manners, he was constantly immured in it. As a leader of democracy he appeared singularly out of place, resembling in many things the Due de Lian- court, and building for himself a chateau at Monti- cello to be above the contact with men ; yet his fears of a monarchy and aristocracy reached almost to fanat- icism ; with popular manners he never showed himself in a crowd. In the midst of the world he led a life entirely his own. Why such a man should have entered the arena of political life was as much of a puzzle as was his entire character. He is said to have been no orator, and owed nothing to personal magnetism. According to the received standard of greatness he certainly ranked among the great men. He is said to have had a penetrating mind, looking deeply into events, and a clear judgment ; he was well read in books, but better in mankind ; master over his passions, a philosopher, ex- perienced in diplomacy, a master in intrigue. He is \n4\ T'he Poet of the Revolution said to have been double and vindictive, and insin- cerity is said to have been his predominant trait. It may have been these latter characteristics that caused Freneau, while upholding him politically, to avoid him when the political strife was over. \n5\ Chapter Tenth TOWARDS the close of this stormy year, Jef- ferson and Freneau both retired from politi- cal life ; the one returning to his home at Monticello, Virginia, the other to the home of his childhood, Mount Pleasant, New Jersey, — leaving a seat in the Cabinet and the editorship of the " Gazette " vacant. The paper was discontinued, as Freneau, it seems, owned the press and type ; and he had them removed to Mount Pleasant, where he had a small building erected about two hundred yards from the house ; there he amused .himself by putting in print the various inspirations that visited him. It is said that when any incident of moment occurred, he would retire to the shelter of a favorite old tree, and indite his lyric ; and would then repair to his press, set up the types, and issue his production. He now became a contributor to the " Freeman's Journal," published in Philadelphia; and in 1793 pub- lished a translation of the travels of M. I'Abbe Robin, chaplain to Count Rochambeau, giving an account of the progress of the French army from Newport to Yorktown. In 1795 ^^ published a new and complete edition of his poems, in an octavo volum.e of four hundred and fifty-six pages, of which we give the titlepage. The fifteen stars have their significance, as we may see from his translation of th2 Latin verses dedicated to the then existing fifteen States. This year an almanac was ushered into existence, a copy of which, yellowed with use and age, is now in the possession of Mr. Weymer Jay Mills. It measures seven inches by four, and contains forty-two pages. On the reverse of the titlepage are the zodiacal signs ; POEMS Written between the Years 1768 & 1794 BY PHILIP FRENEAU OF NEW JERSEY A New Edition Revised and Corrected by the Author, Including a considerable number of Pieces never before published. • * * * * * * * * ¥li ^ Mfr ^ ^ Audax indc cohors stellis e pluribus unum Ardua pyramidot tollit ad astra caput. MO N M O U T H [ N. J. ] Printed At the Press of the Author, at Mount-Pleasant, near MIDDLETOWN-POINT, DCCXCV : and of American Independence XIX. r^^i [ ^77 ] Philip Freneau then follows a page devoted to eclipses, movable feasts, and the cardinal points ; after which is a tide-table with an execrable bit of — poetry ; it certainly may not be called rhyme : — THE NAMES, AND ORDER OF THE TWELVE SIGNS. The Ram, the Bull, the heavenly Twins, And near the Crab the Lion Shines, The Virgin and the Scales ; The Scorpion, Archer and Sea-Goat, The man that holds the Water-Pot, And Fish with glittering tails. An article on the Planetary system follows, with an account of Herculaneum and Pompeii. A description of the Prussian armies, a history of the Ugly Club in Charleston, S. C, " A Philosophical Speculation," a dissertation on Barbers' Poles, a receipt for the de- struction of weevils in wheat, an article on the advan- tages of using oxen on farms instead of horses, a method of preserving peach-trees from a destructive species of worm, a Swedish method of breeding turkeys, an article on northeast storms, one on Indian corn, a scale of the ages of animal creation, an account of the Bastille of France, a remarkable imposition, and several anecdotes respectively of the King of Prussia, George Whitfield, and Dogs follow. One page is devoted to the apochryphal chapter of the Book of Genesis by Franklin, another to the calendar of the French republic. Some lines by a young prisoner before his execution, and a remarkable method of finding the body of a drowned person fill its pages. \n8\ THE MONMOUTH ALMANAC, FOR THE YEAR M,DCC,XCV: Being the third after Leap Year ; and the XIX*'' of American Independence ( ' 7/7/ the Fourth of July ) CALCULATED /or tht MERIDIAN o/NEW JERSEY (Longitude 35 Minutes East from Philadelphia,) and Latitude of 40 Degrees, 20 Minutes North Number I. He***************-"*: MIDDLETOWN-POINT. Printed and sold by P. Freneau, near the above place and may be had of most of the Store-keepers in Monmouth and the adjacent Counties, Original size of almanac. Philip Freneau THE PYRAMID OF THE FIFTEEN AMERICAN STATES. * * * * * » ■3|t #■ 'Jf ^!t Barbara Pyramidum fileat miracula Memphis ; ' Heu, male servili marmora structa manu ! Libera jam, ruptis, Atlantias ora, catenis, Jactat opus Phari marmore nobilius : Namque Columbiadae, facti monumenta parantes, Vulgarem spernunt sumere materiam ; Magnanimi ccelum scandunt, perituraque saxa Quod vincat, celsa de Jovis arce petunt. Audax inde cohors stellis E Pluribus Unum Ardua Pyramidos tollit ad astra caput. Ergo, Tempus edax, quamvis durissima saevo Saxa domas morsu, nil ibi juris habes. Dumque polo solitis cognata nitoribus ardent, Sidera fulgebit Pyramis ilia suis ! (Translation) No more let barbarous Memphis boast Huge structures rear'd by servile hands — A nation on the Atlantic coast Fetter'd no more in foreign bands, A nobler Pyramid displays. Than Egypt's marble e'er could raise. Columbia's sons, to extend the fame Of their bold deeds to future years. No marble from the quarry claim. But soaring to the starry spheres. Materials seek in Jove's blue sky To endure when brass and marble die ! 1 The Latin verses were written by Mr. John Cary, formerly of Phila- delphia. \i8o\ The Poet of the Revolution Arriv'd among the shining host, Fearless, the proud invaders spoil From countless gems, in aether lost, These stars, to crown their mighty toil : To heaven a Pyramid they rear And point the summit vv^ith a star. Old wasteful Time! though still you gain Dominion o'er the brazen tower, On this your teeth shall gnaw in vain. Finding its strength beyond their power : While kindred stars in aether glow This Pyramid will shine below ! In the Madison papers we find a letter from Fre- neau, dated Monmouth, New Jersey, November 2d, 1794, in which he requests the favor of having Mr. Francis Bailey appointed to the post of printer for the House of Representatives, — he having heard that in all probability such a person would be wanted. He assures Mr. Madison that Mr. Bailey " is an old, tried Republican, and has stood forth in the worst of times, both as a printer and soldier, a friend to the rights, liberties, and interests of the country. Such char- acters," he adds, " merit consideration ; " and he con- cludes his letter with some probably experimental and very practical advice. " Permit me to tell you that, in my opinion, it would be preferable that the whole of the work were entrusted to his care ; dividing the business, I never could persuade myself, answered any good purpose ; and if one such person as Mr. Bailey were made responsible for the whole, considering his attention and abilities, and the capital printing appara- tus he is furnished with, I am convinced the House would find their account in having the work done by him." Among the very few letters to Freneau in possession of the family, we find Madison's reply to his request, which runs as follows : — [181] Philip Freneau Philad% April 6, 1795. Dear Sir, — I delayed acknowledging your favor long ago rec'', until I could inform you of the prospects of Mr. Bailey in whose favor it was written. 1 have now the pleas- ure to tell you that altho' his wishes are not to be immedi- ately fulfilled, he is looking to obtain, under the auspices of Mr. Buckley and Mr. Randolph, a share of employment hereafter which may be very valuable to him. 1 congratulate you on the public intelligence just rec'' from Holland which gives joy to all true Republicans, and wish you all the private happiness which an exchange of your former troubled services for the shade & tranquillity of your present life can afford. Remember, however, that as you have not chosen any longer to labour in the field of politics, it will be expected by your friends that you culti- vate with the more industry your inheritance on Parnassus. With my best respects to Mrs. Freneau, I remain. Dear Sir, Your friend and your S., Js. Madison, Jr. It seems the old leaven yet remained in Freneau, and the republishing of his patriotic verses caused it to effervesce in the form of a diminutive production, printed in his own little office at Mount Pleasant. It was called "The Jersey Chronicle," and its first copy appeared on the second of May, 1795. It comprised eight quarto pages, seven inches by eight, and was headed by a quotation from the editor's favorite poet, Horace : — "Inter sylvas Academi quaerere verum," This journal was issued weekly, and was, as the editor assured his readers, " intended to review foreign and domestic politics of the times, and mark the gen- eral character of the age and country." During the same month in which it first saw the light as a complete thing, Freneau combined gratitude, business, and courtesy in a letter to Mr. Madison. The former sentiment was awakened by the appoint- ment of hi8 friend, Mr. Francis Bailey, to the position \l82\ The Poet of the Revolution he had solicited Mr. Madison to interest himself in procuring for him; the second was to announce the nativity of the seven by eight ; and thirdly and lastly^ he congratulates him on his marriage, which had taken place a good part of a year before. This letter is so characteristic of the man that we will insert it in full. Monmouth, May, 20th, 1795. My respected friend, — By some accident your kind letter of April 6th was a long time in finding its way hither, having not come to hand till the 17th. inst. I sincerely thank you for the interest you have taken in Mr. Bailey — He is a good Republican and a worthy honest man, which qualifica- tions, I have thought, entitled him to some notice from the Government, in his line of business — I was heartily laughed at, however, a few weeks ago in N. York, by some Aristo- crats, for having in my Letter to you or Mr. Buckley, I forget which, extolled his Military Services in the late war. I am sensible he never cut off the heads of Giants or drove hosts before him, as some have done ; at the same time it ought to be remembered that he was an officer in the Pennsylvania Militia in the season that tried Men's Souls (as Paine says) and I believe never acted otherwise than became the character in which he acted — I meet you at least half way in your congratulations on the public intelligence received from Holland. It is but another step toward the advancement and completion of that great and Philanthropic System which I have been anticipating for many years, and which you as well as myself, I hope, will live to see realized. When I first went to reside in Philad* in 1 79 1, 1 wished to be one of those who would have the honour and happiness of announcing these great events to the public through the medium of a newspaper. A variety of circum- stances however, needless to trouble you with, urged my departure from that city after completing a two years publication. — As I mean to pass the remainder of my days on a couple of hundred of acres of an old sandy patrimony, I have, by way of filling up the vacuities of time set on foot a small weekly newspaper calculated for the part of the country in which I am — Should you have any curiosity to see it I will Phi/ip Freneau forward it to you free of all expense except that of postage. I will not make high pronuses in regard to what it may con- tain. It will scarcely be expected that in a rude, barbarous part of the country I should calculate it for the polite taste of Philadelphia. — Should your fixed residence be in Philad" I can transmit the Papers to vou once a week by the Public Post, who stops every Wednesday at my door. A Letter put into the Post Orfice at Philadelphia on Saturday morning, will be sure to reach me on W^ednesday. — The public papers some time ago announced your marriage — I wish you all possible happiness with the lady whom you have chosen for your Com- panion through life — Mrs. Freneau joins me in the same, and desires me to present her best respects to your lady and yourself — and should you ever take an excursion to these parts of Jersey, we will endeavour to give Mrs. Madison and yourself — " if not a costly welcome, yet a kind — " I am, Sir, With Great Esteem Your friend and humble Serv* Philip Freneau. Freneau \y:is an original thinker ; he combined the quickness and brilliancy of mind of the French with the firmness of belief in his own opinions for which his Huguenot ancestors were noted; and his natural frankness oi disposition caused him to feel the ne- cessity of asserting his opinion upon all subjects ot importance, whether others cared for it or not. More- over, as he considered his opinions correct, he was naturally desirous of having others adopt them also. Not being ambitious, and asking nothing from the hands of his country or its representatives, he \yas quite indifferent to the latter, and desired only to serve the former; therefore, he had nothing to tear from either. The " Chronicle " was a spirited little journd, but Freneau's thoughts were ahead of the times, and the tact of its being carried on by one person, and he at some distance from the political centres, prevented it from being a success. Freneau's [ iS4 1 The Poet of the Revolution business affairs were something like Horace Greeley's model farm, whereof it is said everything cost him double what he could get for it ; therefore, wearied of providing the public with reading matter at his personal expense, Freneau allowed the paper to die a natural death. Before we bury it, however, we will quote one article contained in its issue of April 1 6, 1796. The person of whom it speaks. Captain Hodge, was a prisoner in the old sugar-house during the Revolutionary War. The article was copied from an English paper, and runs thus : — " It is with great satisfaction that we have it in our power to announce to the public the safety of the crew and troops on board the ' Aurora ' ^ transport, one of Admiral Christian's fleet, which has for some time been given up as totally lost. Her masts and rudder were carried away by a violent gust of wind about three weeks ago, and from that time she remained a helpless log on the water, kept afloat only by the manual exertions of the people at the pumps. Three vessels bore down to the wreck in this intermediate space, but did not — whether from choice or inability, we do not presume to say — offer her any assistance. On Tuesday last, being about ten leagues west of the Lizards, Captain Hodge of the ship ' Sedgely,' of Philadelphia, was so fortunate as to fall in with her, and without the least hesitation determined, at the hazard of his own life and that of his crew, to rescue these miserable people, one hundred and sixty in number, from that fate which so long had threatened them, and which from that time, they must have met in a few hours. It should be recorded to his honor that his humanity, aided by nautical skill, triumphed over the dangers that awaited his exertions in the boat ; for he brought the whole of them safe to his own ship, ^ This name probably revived in Freneau tender memories of his own beautiful ship, the " Aurora," which, indeed, it may have been. Philip Frcncan except one man, who was literally drowned in the boat. The troops are Germans, and have behaved with a sensibility that evinces much gratitude to their de- liverers. They have tendered Captain Hodge one thousand guineas, which he has refused, saying that he finds sufficient remuneration in his own breast for the trouble he has had. One of them, on being asked if Captain Hodge treated them well when he had them on board, exclaimed : * Sir, this brave American does honor to his country ; he gave us all he had ; he is a king of men, and we are bound to kiss his feet as long as we live.' After the 'Aurora' had parted company with Admiral Christian, she had to encounter most dreadful weather. She soon proved so leaky that the pumps became useless, and it was with the utmost difficulty that she was kept above the water by all hands being employed in bailing. Such was the fatigue experienced by the soldiers and crew, that some are said to have died in consequence. They were all, when taken on board the American ship, rctluced to a very feeble state. At the time this friendly shin came up, the 'Aurora ' was scarcely afloat, and everv further effiort to prolong a painful existence had been given up by the people on board." One may imagine the real pleasure with which Freneau commemorated this noble act in his journal ; for no one was ever more willing to give praise when justly due than was he ; nor has any one ever more geiKM-ouslv brought to light, or before the eyes of others, any heroic or virtuous action. He did not wish this noble deed of his countryman to fall into oblivion, and for this reason we insert it here. After the obsequies of the Chronicle,^ Freneau paid a visit to his brother Peter in Charleston, in which city he had many friends and was greatly appreciated. Amongst his acquaintances there were, we learn from ^ Tliore is :i copy of tliis paper in the N. Y. Hist. See. The Poet of the Revolution an old note-book, several with whom he was inti- mate. They were General Rutledge and the Pinck- neys. Charles Pinckney was governor of South Caro- lina at that time ; and Thomas had just returned from Spain, in which country as U. S. minister he had nego- tiated the treaty of lldefonso, by which the United States secured the free navigation of the Mississippi. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney had returned lately from an unsuccessful effort, along with Elbridge Gerry and John Marshall, to settle matters between the United States and France, to which country he had been appointed minister. The Directory were de- manding an alliance with the United States, or, in lieu of its assistance, a quarter of a million in money, to be paid into their treasury, threatening war in the event of a refusal. It was in reply to this demand that Pin k- ney uttered these words that have passed into history : " War be it, then ! Millions for defence, but not a cent for tribute." Upon Freneau's return from Charleston in the latter part of December, he formed the project of a co- partnership with Thomas Greenleaf in his two papers, " The Argus," a daily publication, and the " New York Journal," a bi-weekly; but for some reason the project fell through, and he assumed instead the editorship of a miscellaneous paper called "The Time- Piece and Literary Companion." While projecting the co-partnership with Mr. Greenleaf, he wrote to Mr. Madison in regard to it; his letter is preserved amongst the Madison State papers, and reads as follows : — New York, December ist, 1796. Dear Sir, — Having three or four months since formed a resolution to bid adieu for a few years to some old trees in Jersey, under the shade of which I edited, amongst ditching and grubbing, a small weekly paper entitled the Jersey Chronicle, I did not know how to employ that interval better Philip Freneau than in striking out here, with some printer, if such could be found, already engaged in supporting the good old Republican cause. After experiencing one or two disappointments in accomplishing this object, I am now, through the kind aid of some friends here, nearly completing the project of a co- partnership with Thomas Greenleaf in his two papers, the Argus^ a daily publication, and the New York Journal^ twice a week; both on a pretty respectable footing, and noted for a steady attachment to Republican principles, though open to all decent speculations from any party if they choose to trans- mit them. In short I would wish to revive something in the spirit of the National Gazette, if time and circumstances allow, and with proper assistance hope to succeed thus, — A Raven once an acorn took From Bashan's strongest, stoutest tree ; He hid it near a murmuring brook, And liv'd another oak to see. As I consider the bargain the same as concluded, my next object is to make all the friends here that I decently can among men of eminence and ability. This I have in some small degree attempted and gained, but for want of certain insinuating qualities, natural enough I suppose to some men, I feel myself sadly at a loss to get acquainted with some charac- ters here to whom I could wish to be known upon motives of public as well as private utility. Among these is the Chancellor of this state, Robert R, Livingston, with whom, if I recollect right, you are on terms of intimacy. If I am not mistaken in this point, and you can with propriety accede to my request, you would confer a favor upon me by mentioning me to him in your next Letter, in such manner as you may think best, so that this new con- nexion may attract some share of his attention, and thereby the countenance of the Livingston family in general which would operate greatly through the State at least, in advancing our Subscription and printing Interest in general. With sincere wishes for your long life, health, and hap- piness I am sir, your obliged humble Servt. Ph. Freneau. ii88\ "The Poet of the Revolution The " Time-Piece " made its first appearance March 13, 1797, and was issued tri-weekly. It was in form a quarto, and besides editing it, Freneau was associated in its printing and publication. During Freneau's editorship of this paper he had a number of lady con- tributors, and his office was usually thronged with vis- itors, many of whom were applicants for favors of one kind or another, as Freneau's kind heart and generos- ity were universally known. One of these applicants, an eccentric person calling herself Deborah Grennet, informed him that she had served during the Revolu- tionary War, dressed in male attire ; and to corrobo- rate her story, she showed him several wounds that she had received. Freneau drew up a petition for her, and advised her to present it to Congress then sitting in Philadelphia. She did so, and although Freneau had not signed his name, his writing was immediately recog- nized by several of the members who were his corre- spondents, and by their head, who was Jefferson, then vice-president. The petition received immediate at- tention, and Deborah went on her" way rejoicing, having received her pension. In speaking of this journal, an English publisher^ of one of Freneau's books says : — " It appears at this time in America inseparable from the notion of a newspaper to have an opponent, and Freneau's great opponent in the ' Time-Piece ' was William Cobbet who started up a few days in advance of Freneau's paper, the Journal called ' The Porcupine Gazette.' If Cobbet dis- charged any of his porcupine quills at Freneau, it is most probable they were promptly returned ; for he was ' always as ready to return a blow with a pen as with a sword, the former being as sharp as the latter.' " The " Time-Piece " is said to have given evidence of Freneau's ability, and his tact in administering to the 1 John Russell Smith, Soho Sq., London. Philip Freneau tastes of the public was shown in the skill of the selec- tions and the general elegance of the material. Duyc- kinck says of it : " As usual, his [Freneau's] part was well done, the Journal being well arranged, judiciously filled with a variety of matter, spirited and entertain- ing; in fact, what its title promised, — an agreeable companion to an intelligent reader. This at least was its character while in charge of Freneau." The press at that time was in a primitive state, like all other institutions. Newspapers were few, and managed by ambitious political chiefs ; the sheets were small and crowded with advertisements, — the reading matter, what there was of it, contributed by scholars and politicians; but nearly every writer was bound by a party, and many years were to elapse before the germs of what is now one of the chief glories of America acquired anything approximating a full freedom of thought and action.* But in that time of political agitation attendant upon Adams' term of office, people did not take much inter- est in literature, and Philip was ahead of the times in which he lived. The Alien and Sedition Acts were excitinor the public, and the latter seriously affected Freneau's freedom of thought and expression, as it threatened fine and imprisonment for the freedom of speech and the press. To live under such a restraint, and moreover to edit a paper, was something like har- nessino; the American eagle ; at least it seemed so to Philip; so, placing the paper in the hands of Mat- thew L. Davis, a promising young man, Freneau plumed his pinions for flight. This was his last perch in undertakings of this kind. It would seem that Freneau visited his brother in Charleston, S. C, and that his brother Peter bought and freighted a brig named " Washington " in which Philip, as commander, made many voyages, several of which were to St. Thomas, W. I., and two to 1 Mrs. Lamb's History of New York. "The Poet of the Revolution Madeira ; and from a private memorandum in his own hand-writing, we find that he sailed from TenerifFe for Charleston in May of the year 1 804. This visit to TenerifFe he has commemorated in one of his poems. Afterwards he sailed between Savannah and the West Indies, and finally to Calcutta, — after which this bold, bird of the sea folded his wings on his native shore. On our desk lie three old volumes once in the pos- session of the sailor poet; two of them are works on navigation, the one a good-sized book, the second vol- ume of Robertson's " Theory and Practice of Navi- gation and Marine Fortifications," bearing the print of 1772. On its titlepage is written in large charac- ters the name, " Philip Freneau son livre de naviga- tion," and underneath, the words: "11 faut bien I'esperer, car sans cette consolation il n'y aurait qu'a mourir." Two lines of poetry have evidently been intentionally defaced; the first may with difficulty be deciphered, — " If God or Fate to man would give," — the second is undecipherable. On the back of a chart is written, in his peculiarly beautiful and delicate chi- rography, in ink paled and yellowed by time, some "Remarks and Observations" which run thus: — " The cold is greater in the southern Hemisphere than in the Northern, because, though in the same Latitude of each hemi- sphere the Position of the Sphere be the same, the Distance of the Earth from the Sun in the Corresponding Seasons is not equal. Winter happens in our hemisphere when the Earth is at its least Distance from the Sun and this circumstance diminishes the cold. In the Southern Hemisphere it is the contrary, win- ter happens when the Earth is at its greatest distance from the Sun which circumstance augments the force of the cold : add to this, that in the Southern Hemisphere the winter is longer by Eight Days than in the northern." Philip Freneau The first volume of this work is missing. Another is " Atkinson's Epitome of the Art of^ Navigation," an old print of 1749 ; on the fly-leaf of this book is writ- ten, in the same hand-writing, the same name and a " Table of the number of miles contained in a Degree of Longitude In each Parallel of Latitude from the Equator to the Pole." We notice in the extract the custom in those days of beginning every emphatic word with a capital. On the back of two charts in this book is written a poem, if indeed it may be classed as such, which has never seen the light till now, when the poor hand that penned it has returned to the dust. The writing is fast becoming illegible, therefore my readers will bear with me for reproducing it here : — THE STORM.i Cease, rude Boreas, blustering railer, List ye Landsmen all to me, Messmates hear a Brother Sailor Sing the dangers of the Sea. From bounding Billows first in motion. When the distant whirlwinds rise. From the tempest troubled ocean, Where the seas contend with skies. Hark ! the Boatswain hoarsely bawling, By topsail sheets, and halyards stand, Down topgallants, quick be hauling Down your staysails, hand, boys, hand ! Now it freshens, set the braces, Now the topsail sheets let go, LufF, boys, luft', don't make wr)' faces Up your topsails nimbly clew. ^ Since sending the manuscript of this work to press it appears that the first four lines of this poem are given in Bartlett's " Familiar Quotations " as emanating from the pen of George A. Stevens, an English author who died in 1784. He published a volume of "Songs Comic and Satirical " in 1772, one of which was entitled "A Storm ; " it may have been this one, and that Freneau merely copied it. The latter never presented it as his own. {ig2\ The Poet of the Revolution Now all you on down beds sporting, Fondly locked in Beauty's arms, Fresh enjoyments wanton courting, Safe from all but love's alarms, Round us roars the tempest louder, Think what fears our minds enthral. Harder yet it blows, yet harder, Now again the Bosen calls. The topsail yards point to the wind, boys, See all clear to reef each course. Let the fore sheet go, don't mind, boys, Tho' the weather should be worse. Fore and aft the sprit sail yard get, Reef the mizzen, see all clear. Hands up — each preventer brace set, Man the fore yard, — cheer, lads, cheer ! Now the dreadful thunders roaring, Peal on peal contending clash. On our heads fierce rain falls pouring, In our eyes blue lightnings flash. One wide water all around us, All above us one black sky, Different deaths at once surround us. Hark ! what means that dreadful cry ? The foremast 's gone, cries every tongue out, O'er the Lee twelve feet 'bove deck; A leak beneath the chest trees sprung out, Call all hands to clear the wreck. Quick, the Lanyard cut to pieces. Come, my hearts, be stout and bold. Plumb the well, the Leak increases ; Four feet water in the hold. While o'er the ship wild waves are beating, We for wives or children mourn, Alas ! from hence there 's no retreating, Alas ! from hence there 's no return. [/J] [ ^93 ] Philip Freneau Still the Leak is gaining on us, Both chain pumps are choakcd below, Heaven have mercy here upon us. For only that can save us now. O'er the Lee beam is the Land, boys. Let the Guns o'erboard be thrown. To the pump come every hand, boys. See, our mizzen mast is gone ! The Leak we 've found, it cannot pour fast. We 've lightened her a foot or more. Up and rig a jury foremast ; She rights, she rights, boys, we 're off shore. Now, once more on joys we're thinking Since kind fortune saved our Lives ; Come the cann, boys, let 's be drinking To our sweethearts and our wives. Fill it 'up, about ship wheel it. Close to the lips a brimmer join. Where 's the tempest now, who feels it ? None — our danger 's drown'd in wine. Besides different ports mentioned, Freneau visited St. Croix, Guadeloupe, St. Eustatia, Cura9oa, Deme- rara, Cumana, and Porto Cabello. Upon his return from Calcutta in the year 1809, Freneau, at the age of fifty-seven years, settled down to the manage- ment, or mismanagement, of his estate, and the care of his little family, consisting of wife, four girls, and his slaves. Although he understood nothing whatever of farming, he took pleasure in seeing the work progress ; and he delighted in feeding the differ- ent animals, being a great lover of nature in all its forms. His love for dumb animals and tenderness of heart were such that he always managed to have important business to take him from home during slaughtering season. Mrs. Freneau gave orders to the blacks to have the poultry for the table killed in some place where he would not happen to see them in his The Poet of the Revolution walks, or hear their cries during the work of decapita- tion. Freneau considered his excessive sensibihty a weakness, and tried to conceal it, but he could never steel himself to witness any kind oi suffering. One day his little granddaughter ^ was busily occupied in endeavoring to capture a fly that was buzzing on the window-pane, but her grandfather speedily put an end to her sport, telling her that there was room enough in the world for everything that God had made. He was a kind and liberal master to his slaves ; the miserable condition of the blacks in the different ports he had visited had made an ineffaceable impression upon his mind, which was heightened by the memory of his own cruel captivity on the prison ship ; and it caused him unhappiness until he had given freedom to all his slaves, which event occurred some time before the Emancipation Act of New Jersey. After their manu- mission he continued to support the aged and in- firm amongst them. He could say with Dido, " Non [ignarus] mali, miseris succurrere disco." ^ Freneau frequently visited Philadelphia and New York, where his acquaintance with prominent persons and literary men of the times was extensive. In 1809 Freneau published a new collection of his poems which constituted a fourth issue ; these he en- titled " Poems Written and Published during the American Revolutionary War, and now Republished from the Original Manuscripts ; interspersed with Translations from the Ancients and other pieces not heretofore in print." The titlepage of this volume bears for its motto, — " — Justly to record the deeds of fame, A muse from heaven should touch the soul with flame ; Some powerful spirit, in superior lays, Should tell the conflicts of the stormy days," ^ Mrs. Charles Townsend Harris, now living. ' I learned from misfortune itself to succor the unfortunate. Philip Freneau An author has said these translations prove that Freneau had not altogether lost the early instruction in the classics which he had received at Nassau Hall. Some of these are from Ovid's " Tristia " and Lucre- tius. Amongst the Madison Papers is a letter from Freneau dated the same year : — Philadelphia, April 8th, 1809. Sir, — I do myself the pleasure to enclose to you a copy of Proposals for the publication of a couple of Volumes of Poems shortly to be put to the Press in this city. Perhaps some of your particular friends in Virginia may be induced from a view of the Proposals in your hands to subscribe their names. If so, please to have them forwarded to this place by Post, addressed to the Publisher at No. 10 North Alley, Phila- delphia. — Accept my congratulations on your late Election to the Presidency of the United States, and my hopes that your weight of State Affairs may receive every alleviation in the gratitude and esteem of the Public whom you serve in your truly honorable and exalted Station. I remain Sir, with the highest respect and regard, your humble servant Philip Freneau. Freneau to Madison?' Philadelphia, May 12th, 1809. Sir, — After a month's ramble through the States of New Jersey and New York, I returned to this place on Saturday last, and found your friendly Letter on Mr. Bailey's table, with the contents. There was no occasion of enclosing any Money, as your name was all I wanted to have placed at the head of the Subscription list. — I hope you will credit me when I say that the republication of these Poems, such as they are, was not a business of my own seeking or forwarding. I found last Winter an Edition would soon be going on at all events, and in contradiction to my wishes, as I had left these old scribblings, to float quietly down the stream of oblivion to ^ Madison Papers, vol. xxxv. p. 17. The Poet of the Revolution their destined element the ocean of forgctfulness. However, I have concluded to remain here this Summer, and have them published in a respectable manner, and free as possible from the blemishes imputable to the two former Editions, over which I had no controul, having given my manuscripts away, and left them to the mercy of chance. — I am endeavouring to make the whole work as worthy of the public eye as circumstances will allow. 1500 copies are to be printed, only; but I have a certainty, from the present popular frenzy, that three times that number might soon be disposed of, — I will attend to what you direct on the subject, and will forward the ten you mention by the middle of July or sooner. — I will consider of what you say relative to the insertion of a piece or two in prose, but suspect that anything I have written in that way is so inferior to the Poetry, that the contrast will be injurious to the credit of the Publication. — I feel much in the humour of remaining here about two years, to amuse myself as well as the Public, with such matter as that of the fat man you refer to, and if the Public are in the same humour they shall be gratified. But I am intruding on your time and will add no more at present. — I had almost said, — Cum tot sustineas et tanta negotia solus Res Italas armis tuleris moribus omnes Legibus emendes, in publica commoda fecerem Si longo sermone mores tua tempera, Caesar. My best wishes. Sir, will ever await you, and in particular that your Presidential Career may be equally honourable, though less stormy than that of your predecessor. My best compliments and respects to Mrs. Madison, and remain with esteem and respect, Your sincere friend Philip Freneau. Madison's reply to these two letters, if they were preserved by Freneau, were probably consumed in the burning of his house ; but Freneau's third letter, prov- ing that there had been such, bears the date of the following August. [ ^97 J Philip Freneau Philadelphia, Aug. 7th, 1809. Sir, — The two volumes of Poems that in April last I en- gaged to have published, are finished, and will be ready for delivery in two or three davs. The ten Setts ^ you subscribed for I am rather at a loss how to have safely transmitted to you at your residence in Virginia, where I find by the newspapers, you mean to Continue until the end of September. Will you on receipt of this, send me a line or two informing me whether you would prefer having the Books put into the hands of some Confidential person here, to be sent, or, that they be sent to the Post Office at Washington \ or that they be forwarded directly to yourself in Orange County. The precise direction is not in my power. I am Sir, with respect and esteem, Your obedient humble Servt., Philip Freneau. No 80 South Front Street or 10 North Alley Philad*. Letter from 'Jefferson to Freneau in relation to same work? MoNTiCELLO, May 22, 09. Dear Sir, — I subscribe with pleasure to the publication of your volumes of poems. I anticipate the same pleasure from them which the perusal of those heretofore published has given me. I have not been able to circulate the paper because I have not been trom home above once or twice since my re- turn, and because in a countrv situation like mine, little can be done in that way. The inhabitants of the country are mostly industrious farmers employed in active life and reading little. They rarely buy a book of whose merit they can judge by hav- ing it in their hand, and are less disposed to engage for those yet unknown to them. I am becoming like them myself in the preference of the healthv and cheerful eniployment without doors, to the being immured within four brick walls. But under the shade of a tree one of your volumes will be a pleas- ant pocket-companion. Wishing you all possible success and happiness, I salute you with constant esteem and respect. Th. Jefferson. Mr. Freneau. 1 Twenty volumes. * Jefferson Papers. Series 2, vol. 34, p. 135. {ig8\ The Poet of the Revolution Freneau to 'Jefferson} Philadelphia, May 27th, 1809. Sir, — Yesterday your Letter, dated May 2 2d, came to hand. — Perhaps you a little misunderstood me, when I wrote to you from this place in April last, inclosing the Proposal Paper, re- specting the Poems, — I only wished your name to be placed at the head of the list, and did not wish you to be at the pains of collecting Subscriptions, further than as any of your neigh- bours might choose to put down their names. — Indeed the whole Subscription plan was Set a going without my knowledge or approbation, last Winter. But as I found the matter had gone too far to be recalled, I thought it best to Submit, in the present Edition, to the course and order of things as they are and must be. — Sir, if there be anything like happiness in this our State of existence, it will be such to me, when these two little Volumes reach you in August ensuing, if the sentiments in them under the poetical Veil, amuse you but for a single hour. — This is the first Edition that I have in reality attended to, the other two having been published, in a strange way, while I was wandering over gloomy Seas, until embargoed by the necessity of the times, and now again, I fear, I am reverting to the folly of scribbling Verses. That your shade of Monticello may afford you complete happiness is the wish and hope of all the worthy part of man- kind, and my own in particular. In such the philosophers of antiquity preferred to pass life, or if that was not allowed, their declining days. Will you be so good as to read the enclosed Verses ? They were published early in March last in the Trenton True American Newspaper, and in the Public Advertiser, of New York. I am, Sir, with all esteem Your obedient humble Servant Philip Freneau. In New York City, Freneau was ever a most wel- come guest, at Governor Clinton's and at the resi- dence of Dr. Francis, who then resided in Bond Street. ^ Jefferson Papers. Series 2, vol. 34, p. 134, Philip Freneau The latter generally had some of the literati to meet him there. Dr. Francis, in his " Reminiscences," describes Fre- neau as being somewhat below the medium height and slightly stooped, thin and muscular, with a firm step even in age ; his forehead he describes as being very high, with soft and beautiful flowing hair of an iron-gray color ; his eyes dark-gray, deeply set, and eyelids slightly drooping ; his habitual expression pensive, but lighting up with animation when speak- ing. He retained the small-clothes, long hose, buckled shoes, and cocked hat of the colonial period until his death. The same writer also mentions the aversion Fre- neau evinced to sitting for his portrait, or even having it taken at all. The reason for this peculiarity Dr. Francis could never fathom ; and Freneau never gave it. Although not so strikingly handsome as his brother, who was considered the handsomest man in South Carolina, Freneau was, especially in his younger days, considered a handsome man ; yet he never wished to have himself reproduced on canvas.^ Rembrandt Peale once waited upon him with a request from a body of Philadelphia gentlemen to allow his portrait to be taken, but he was " inexorable." At a dinner given by Dr. Hosack of Philadelphia, the artist Jarvis was concealed in the room that he might catch his likeness, but in some way Freneau detected the design and frustrated it. It was caught once in a parlor, and, although he acknowledged it to be a good picture, he compelled its destruction. The picture in this book was executed after his death, from sugges- tions of the family, and was considered by them to be an excellent likeness. Freneau, like his brother, was a man of extensive reading ; his mind was logical and philosophical * His brother Pierre had this same peculiarity. {200^ T^he Poet of the Revolution rather than credulous; but he was full of imagination and fancy, and withal clear-headed. In manners, we are told, he was courteous and refined ; and towards ladies, with whom he was a favorite, he was gallant. His general bearing won the admiration of all parties ; his knowledge of the men and events of the times was extensive ; and it is said that few knew as much about the early history of our country, the organiza- tion of the government, and the origin of political parties ; and he could enter into any topic of conver- sation that interested his companions. "With Gates he compared the achievements of Monmouth with those of Saratoga ; with Colonel Hamilton Fish he reviewed the capture of Yorktown ; with Dr. Mitchell he rehearsed from his own sad ex- perience the physical sufferings and various diseases of the prison ships ; and he descanted on Italian poets and the piscatory eclogues of Sannazarius, and doubtless furnished Dr. Benjamin Dewitt with data for his dis- sertation on the eleven thousand and five hundred American martyrs ; with Pintard he enjoyed Horace and talked of Paul Jones ; with Major Fairlie he dis- cussed the tactics and charity of Baron Steuben ; with Sylvanus Miller he compared political clubs in 1795 with those of 18 10. He could share with Paine his ideal of a democracy, and with DeWitt Clinton and D. Calhoun debated the project of internal improve- ments and artificial navigation based upon the former's procedure of the Languedoc Canal ; with Francis Hopkinson he talked politics and the poets ; with Bishop Provost he interchanged intimate conversa- tion based on kindred sentiments ; and with Gulian C. Verplanck, Cadwallader Colden, and Dr. Francis, he discussed old men and old times with rare ability." He could relate Jefferson's account of the hasty signa- tures affixed to the Declaration of Independence, which he, Jefferson, attributed to the fact of the loca- \20l\ Philip Freneau tion being contiguous to a stable, and the signers wear- ing short clothes ; the flies, he asserted, troubled their long hose to such a degree as to keep them continu- ally switching them off with their handkerchiefs. Mr. Jefferson acknowledged that he affixed his signature as quickly as possible and beat a hasty retreat. Old New York was an ever interesting theme with Fre- neau, and his dear friend and room-mate, James Mad- ison, was a particularly pleasant one ; he described him as being of a very retiring disposition and fond of skating, it being his only recreation. According to him, Madison could never be induced to appear upon the stage to debate with the other students, although in after years his training in the House of Representa- tives and in the various Congresses and councils of state caused him to acquire a habit of self-possession which facilitated the use of the rich resources of his brilliant and discriminating mind ; and his extensive information caused him to become the centre of every assembly of which he was a member. His early se- clusion had the effect of giving him such a close appli- cation to the thread of his subject that he never wandered from it, but ever followed it in the purest and most classical language ; iind his gentleness and kindly expressions and manner caused even his ad- versaries to feel kindly disposed towards him. His spotless virtue never allowed calumny a momentary resting-place. He was the only one of Freneau's contemporaries that outlived him.^ Extremely hospitable, Freneau always warmly wel- comed his friends at Mount Pleasant, where he de- voted his declining years to reading and answering his numerous correspondents, and in occasionally penning an article for the press. He always retained his original frankness in expressing himself, but it was ^ Although Madison graduated the same year with Philip, he re- mained another year at college. [ 202 ] The Poet of the Revolution softened down considerably as he advanced in years. In fact it was his pen, as some author has said, more than his heart that was so acrimonious in his early years ; no personal malice ever rested in his mind, and he was ever ready to pardon those who had in- jured him. Even his adversaries, some of whom he had treated pretty roughly with his pen in early days, in later times claimed him as a friend. In his friend- ships he was ardent and sincere, and they were usually life-long. Freneau lived to see his classmate Burr tried for treason, and finally stain his hand in the blood of his own old adversary, Alexander Hamilton. He saw his room-mate on the presidential chair, and others fiUing the first places in the States ; and he rejoiced in their honors, desiring none for himself and refusing those that were offered him. He saw the white sails give place to iron-bound steam, and the old printing- presses he had once manipulated moved by the same power. He saw his contemporaries pass away before him, and he laid in turn his own dear ones to rest. He sang the events of the second great war, and decked with the laurel of his song the brave and gallant deeds of his countrymen. He saw the flames consume the home of his childhood till it lay in ashes at his feet, and his aged hand closed the record his boy- ish one had commenced in the Bible of his fathers : " Old house at Mount Pleasant took fire Sunday afternoon at four o'clock, Oct. i8th 1818. It was burned to the ground with a large quantity of valuable property therein. Said old house was built in 1752 by my father." Freneau, like most persons of intellect, education, and energy, had from his earliest years of public life associated mostly with persons much in advance of him in years; consequently, as we have seen, many passed away before him ; which fact he sadly alludes \203\ Philip Frencau to in a letter to Madison dated three years before he saw the home of his father hiid in ashes. The letter refers to two volumes of poems published by Krcneau, comniemorating the stirring events of the war of 1812. In these poems, with his usual freedom from all sentiments of jealousy, he celebrates the naval actions of Hull, Porter, and Macdonough. These books were printed by David Longworth in 1815, entitled " A Collection of Poems on American Affairs and a Variety ot other Subjects, written between the years 1797 and the present time." Freneiiu to Madison. Mount Pleasant, near Middletown Point. Monmouth County, New Jersey, January 12th, 1815. Sir, — Since my last return from the Canary Islands in 1807 to Charleston and from thence to New York, with my Brigantine VV^ishington, quitting the bustle and distraction of active life, my walks have been contined, with now and then a short excursion, to the neighbourhood oi the Never Sink hills, and under some old hereditary trees, and on some fields, which I well recollect for sixtv years. During the last Seven Years my pen could not be entirely idle, and for amusement only now and then I had recourse to my old habit of scrib- bling verses. A Bookseller in New York, Mr. Longworth, by some means discovered this, and has prevailed on me to put mv papers into his hands for publication. With some reluctance I consented to gratify his wish, altho' I think after the age of fifty, or there.ibouts, the vanity of authorship ought to cease, at least it has been the case with myself. Mr. Longworth informs me the work will be published early in February in two duodecimo volumes. I have directed him, when done, to forward a copy to yourself, ot which I beg your acceptance. I do not know that the Verses are of any superior or yer^- unusual merit, but he tells me the Town will have them ; and of course, have them they will, and must, it seems. The Work cannot be ver\' tedious, for in two small Volumes there will be upwards oi one hundred and thirty 1 204 ] "The Poet of the Revolution Poems on different subjects, moral, political, or merely amus- ing, and not a icvj upon the events of the times since May 1 812. However, you know a short production may some- times be tedious, and a long one very lively and captivating. None of my effusions in these Volumes much exceed two hun- dred lines, and several do not reach more than the fourth part of that number of lines. When I left Philadelphia, about the middle of September 1809, the ten copies of the Revolutionary Poems, which you subscribed for, were put into a box well secured, and for- warded according to your direction, under the care of General Steele, then Collector of the Port of Philadelphia ; I have not since heard whether they reached you or not. That Edition was published bv Subscription merely for the benefit of, and to assist Mrs. Bailey, an unfortunate but deserv- ing widowed female, niece to General Steele, and this con- sideration alone induced me to pay some attention to that third Edition. — But, in mentioning these matters I fear I am intruding both on your time and patience, constantly, or always perpetually engaged, as you undoubtedly are, in the duties of your station at a stormy period, a tempestuous Presidency indeed ! May you weather all the conflicts of these mighty times, and return safe at the proper period to your Virginia Groves, fields, and streams : sure I am, different very different indeed from your long intercourse with political Life and the affairs of a "grumbling Hive." My best wishes attend Yourself, and Mrs. Madison, to whom, tho' I never had the pleasure of her acquaintance, I beg you to present my best compliments and regards. I remain. Sir, (I hardly need to say) with great esteem and respect, Your obedient, humble Servant, Philip Freneau. Hqjjble. James Madison, Washington. Freneau to Madison. New York, March 3d, 1815. Sir, — When I mentioned in my few lines to you, dated from my residence in New Jersey on the 22d of January last, the two Volumes of Poems publishing in this city by Mr. Philip Freneau Longworth, I did really think to have had a small box of them at Washington by the middle of February at farthest, with a particular direction of a couple of copies to Yourself bound in an elegant manner. Finding, however, that the business went on slowly here, and a little vexed to be under the necessity of leaving my Solitude and the wild scenes of nature in New Jersey for the ever execrated streets and com- pany of this Capital, I embarked near Sandy Hook in a snow storm, about the last of January, and shortly after arrived here, fortunately unnoticed and almost unknown. ... At my time of life, 63 ! ! ! abounding however m all the powers of health and vigour, though I consider my poetry and poems as mere trifles, I was seriously out of humour on my arrival here to see my work delayed, as well from the severity of the cold, which has been unremitting for more than a month past, and perhaps to some other causes it would not be prudent here to explain. By my incessant exertions in spurring on the indolence of typography, the work, such as it is, is now finished, in two small Volumes of about 180 pages each. — The moment they are out of the bookbinder's hands, Mr. Longworth will for- ward you a Copy, and by the first Vessel to Alexandria, George- town, or Washington a Box of them to his correspondents in these places. A Copy or two of the Revolutionary poems will be forwarded to your direction. I am sorry the Copies you had were doomed to the flames, but the author had nearly suffered the same fate in the year 1780. Yesterday I received from New Jersey a Copy of your friendly Letter of the ist. February. A Copy, I say, for my wife, or some one of my four Girls, daughters, would not forward me the original, but keep it until my return for fear of accidents. To-morrow morning I embark again for Monmouth, and among other cares, when I arrive at my magical grove, I shall hasten to exert all the poetical energy I possess, on the grand Subject of the Repulse of the British Army from New Orleans. There is a subject indeed ! far above my power, I fear. If there be anything in inspiration, it will be needful on such a theme. Eight hundred lines in Heroic Measure I mean to devote to this animating subject. In due time you shall hear more from me on this business if I am not anticipated by some one more muse be- [ 206 ] The Poet of the Revolution loved than myself. Hoping that all health and happiness may attend you, and that your Libraries in future may escape the ravages of the flames of Goths and Barbarians, I remain dear Sir Your obedt. humble servant, Philip Freneau. One more letter to Madison concludes the corre- spondence on the subject of the poems. New York, May loth, 1815. Sir, — Mrs. Anna Smyth, the lady of Charles Smyth Esquire, a respectable Citizen of this place, being to set out in a few days on a tour to Virginia, and expecting to be in your neighborhood either at Washington, or at Montpelier, does me the favour to take under her particular care, to put or transmit into your hands, the two little Volumes I mentioned to you in my letter last winter, and to which I received your friendly and obliging Answer. — Be pleased to accept them as a mark of my attention, respect, and esteem, in regard to your private as well as public character. I have written to Mr. Carey, in Philadelphia, a bookseller there, to forward on to you, if he has them, the two Volumes of the Revolutionary Poems published in Philadelphia in the Summer of 1809, ^"^ which you wished to regain, since the loss of your copies in the conflagration at Washington last year. I flatter myself, the arrangement I have made with him will replace them in your hand — I will only add, that any attention paid by you to Mrs. Smyth, I will consider as conferred on myself. I am, Sir, with the highest consideration. Your obedient humble servant, Philip Freneau. The Honorable James Madison, President of the United States. After the disastrous fire at Mount Pleasant which consumed the fine library mentioned in Mrs. Freneau's letter to her brother, Samuel Forman, and in which much as yet unpublished poetry of Freneau's had been consumed, Freneau with his wife and two unmarried daughters removed, that is, themselves and the clothing \.207\ Philip Freneau they wore, to a house which was building ; in which they remained up to the death of Mrs. Freneau's brother, when they took possession of his house, which had formerly belonged to Mrs. Freneau's father and had been the home of her childhood. Freneau lived in this house till his death. Freneau was naturally sociable, and, being a great walker, he frequently met his friends in the evening at the rooms of the circulating library of the town. On the evening of the eighteenth of December, 1832, he remained there somewhat later than usual, having been interested in a political discussion. The Hon. William L. Dayton, afterwards U. S. Minister to France, offered to accompany him home ; but Freneau persistently refused, and started alone. After a time a sudden snow-storm came up and hid from his view the lamp his wife always left burning in a window to light him home. It is supposed that he was blinded by the snow and benumbed by the in- tense cold, and, falling, broke his hip. He sank down by the side of the road, and, with the snow for his winding-sheet and the wild winter wind singing his requiem,^ the freedom-loving spirit of Philip Freneau passed into the presence of his Maker. Mr. Delancey says, " Such was the tragic end of one of the most original and gifted poets that America, up to his day, and I may say to ours, has ever pro- duced." In speaking of his death the " Monmouth Inquirer" says : — " Captain Freneau was a staunch Whig in the time of the Revolution, a good soldier, and a warm patriot. The produc- tions of his pen animated his countrymen in the dark days of ^ They do not err Who say that, when a poet dies, Mute Nature mourns her worshipper And celebrates his obsequies. — Scott. \208'\ "The Poet of the Revolution seventy six, and the effusions of his muse cheered the despond- ing soldier as he fought the battles of freedom ; he was the popular poet of the Revolution." His death is recorded in the old Bible by his daughter Agnes, and closes the Freneau record. " My dear father, Philip Freneau, vi^as buried, by his own particular request, in the Locust Grove, very near his beloved mother, on Friday afternoon the twenty-first of December, 1832." Freneau was buried under the tree of which we have already spoken as being his favorite seat, and under whose shade he composed many. of his poems. His tombstone is a very simple one, of marble sur- mounted by a draped urn, and bears the inscription : " Poet's Grave. PHILIP FRENEAU died December i8th. 1832 ae. 80 years, 11 months, and 16 days. " He was a native of New York, but for many years a resi- dent of Philadelphia and New Jersey. His upright and honest character is in the memory of many, and will remain when this inscription is no longer legible. " Heaven lifts its everlasting portal high, And bids the pure in heart behold their God." By his side on another tombstone we read, — " Sacred to the memory of Eleanor, wife of Philip Freneau, and daughter of Samuel and Helena Forman, who died Sep- tember 1st, 1850, aged 86 years 9 months and 20 days." The third book we have mentioned as lying on the desk proves that Freneau was not unmindful of his end, and shows his faith in God, and his deep affection for his loved ones. It, strangely enough, is marked Philip Freneau by the firm hand of his early youth, and the trem- bling one of his old age. On its inner cover it bears the date of his entrance to the Penolopen Latin School, that of his initiation into Princeton College, and also that of his graduation. Through it are versi- fied translations of different Latin verses ; and in trem- bling pencil-strokes of later days, the following lines are traced : — " I am growing fit, I hope, for a better world, of which the light of the sun is but a shadow ; for I doubt not but God's works here, are what come nearest to his works there ; and that a true relish of the beauties of nature is the most easy preparation and gentlest transition to an enjoyment of those of heaven : I 'm endeavoring to put my mind into as quiet a situation as I can, to be ready to receive that stroke which, I believe, is coming upon me, and have fully resigned myself to yield to it. The separation of my soul and body is what I could think of with less pain ; for I am sure he that made it will take care of it, and in whatever state he pleases it shall be, that state must be right. But I cannot think without tears of being separated from my friends, when their condition is so doubtful, that they may want even such assistance as mine. Sure, it is more merciful to take from us after death all memory of what we loved or pursued here : for else what a torment would it be to a spirit, still to love those creatures it is quite divided from ! Unless we suppose, that in a more exalted life, all that we esteemed in this imperfect state will affect us no more, than what we lov'd in our infancy concerns us now." ^ On the inner side of the last cover is written, — " Leaving the old, both worlds at once chey view Who stand upon the threshold of the new." And again, — " Stronger by weakness, wiser men become As they draw near to their eternal home." ^ ^ Letters of Alexander Pope. * Waller. l2IO\ GRAVE OF FRENEAU Chapter Eleventh FOR reasons already given, we deem it best to give the criticisms of others upon the poetry of Freneau, and begin with the remarks of a London pubHsher^ who, notwithstanding Freneau's hostile feeling towards all that savored in the least of Great Britain, has had the magnanimity to over- look all such sentiment, and bring before the public, of his own free will, a reproduction of the volume of Freneau's poems, as published by Francis Bailey of Philadelphia in the year 1786. In his introduction to the British public he says : " It has been remarked with justice that, in the states which have arisen out of the British settlements in America, literature as a profession is a thing of recent growth. Till within the present century, it was only taken up as a matter of taste, and at leisure, from time to time, by those whose lives were absorbed in other duties and other pursuits, and most frequently took its character from temporary feelings and impulses. It hence happens that a good proportion of the best of the older American literature was temporary in its character, and has become more or less obsolete even in America, and it is only very considerable excellence that has preserved some of it from comparative oblivion. To this latter class belongs the poet whose works are given in the present volume, and who arrived at fame amidst the turbulence of the revolutionary period." After giving a synopsis of the poet's varied career, he mentions his first notable poem composed in his ' John Russell Smith, Soho Sq., London, 1861. \2II] Philip Freneau sophomore year while at Nassau Hall, Princeton College, which, he says, is distinguished both by the vigor and the correctness of its versification. " His poetic satires against the royalists established his repu- tation in America, and all these show great talent ; and some of his severer satires, such as that on his literary opponent whom he addresses under the name of Mac Swiggin, are characterized by great power." As this poem gives an insight into Philip's character, his intense love for nature in her varied forms, his lack of desire for fame, yet innate knowledge of his own powers, did he desire to gain it, his scorn for all that was low or base in mankind, and his con- scious superiority over a rival whom he has it in the power of his two-edged sword to annihilate ; and fur- thermore as it illustrates that which we have already said : his being as much dreaded by a foe, as he was loved as a friend, we will quote some portions of it : — " Long have I sat on this disast'rous shore, And, sighing, sought to gain a passage o'er To Europe's towns, where, as our travellers say, Poets may flourish, or, perhaps they may ; But such abuse has from your coarse pen fell I think I may defer my voyage as well, Why should I far in search of honour roam, And dunces leave to triumph here at home ? Great Jove in wrath a spark of genius gave, And bade me drink the mad Pierian wave Hence came these rhymes, with truth ascrib'd to me. That swell thy little soul to jealousy : If thus, tormented at these flighty lays, You strive to blast what ne'er was meant for praise, How will you bear the more exalted rhyme By labour polish'd and matur'd by time ? Devoted madman ! what inspir'd thy rage, Who bade thy foolish muse with me engage ? Against a windmill would'st thou try thy might, Against a giant would a pigmy fight ? [ 212 \ "The Poet of the Revolution What could thy slanderous pen with malice arm ? To injure him, who never did thee harm ? Have I from thee been urgent to attain The mean ideas of thy barren brain ? Have I been seen in borrowed clothes to shine, And, when detected, swear by Jove they 're mine ? miscreant, hostile to thine own repose, PVom thy own envy thy destruction flows ! Bless'd be our western world — its scenes conspire To raise a poet's fancy and his fire, Lo, blue-topt mountains to the skies ascend ! Lo, shady forests to the breezes bend ! See mighty streams meandering to the main ! See lambs and lambkins sport on every plain ! The spotted herds in flowery meadows see ! But what, ungenerous wretch, are these to thee ! You find no charms in all that nature yields. Then leave to me the grottoes and the fields : 1 interfere not with your vast design — Pursue your studies, and I '11 follow mine. Pursue well pleas'd your theologic schemes, Attend professors, and correct your themes, Still some dull nonsense, low-bred wit invent. Or prove from scripture what it never meant, Or far through law, that land of scoundrels, stray. And truth disguise through all your mazy way. Wealth you may gain, your clients you may squeeze. And, by long cheating, learn to live at ease ; If but in Wood or Littleton well read. The devil shall help you to your daily bread. O waft me far, ye muses of the west — Give me your green bowers and soft seats of rest — Thrice happy in those dear retreats to find A safe retirement from all human kind — Though dire misfortunes every step attend. The muse, still social, still remains a friend — In solitude her converse gives delight. With gay poetic dreams she cheers the night. She aids me, shields me, bears me on her wings. In spite of growling whelps, to high, exalted things, [ 213 ] Philip Freneau Beyond the miscreants that my peace molest, Miscreants, with dullness and with rage opprest. Hail, great Mac Swiggen ! foe to honest fame, Patron of dunces, and thyself the same. You dream of conquest — tell me, how, or whence ? Act like a man and combat me with sense — This evil have I known, and known but once. Thus to be gall'd and slander'd by a dunce, Saw rage and weakness join their dastard plan To crush the shadow, not attack the man. Assist me, gods, to drive this dog of rhyme Back to the torments of his native clime. Where dullness mingles with her native earth. And rhymes, not worth the pang that gave them birth ! Where did he learn to write or talk with men — A senseless blockhead, with a scribbling pen — In vile acrostics thou may'st please the fair. Not less than with thy looks and powder'd hair. But strive no more with rhyme to daunt thy foes, Or, by the flame that in my bosom glows. The muse on thee shall her worst fury spend. And hemp or water thy vile being end. Aspers'd like me, who would not grieve and rage ! Who would not burn, Mac Swiggen to engage ? Him and his friends, a mean, designing race, I, singly I, must combat face to face — Alone I stand to meet the foul-mouth'd train. Assisted by no poets of the plain. Whose timorous Muses cannot swell their theme Beyond a meadow or a purling stream — Were not my breast impervious to despair — And did not Clio reign unrivall'd there, I must expire beneath the ungenerous host. And dullness triumph o'er a poet lost. Come on, Mac Swiggen, come — your muse is willing, Your prose is merry, but your verse is killing — Come on — attack me with your choicest rhymes, Sound void of sense betrays the unmeaning chimes — [214] The Poet of the Revolution Come, league your forces ; all your wit combine, Your wit not equal to the bold design — The heaviest arms the Muse can give, I wield. To stretch Mac Swiggen floundering on the field, 'Swiggen, who, aided by some spurious Muse, But bellows nonsense, and but writes abuse, 'Swiggen, immortal and unfading grown. But by no deeds or merits of his own — So, when some hateful monster sees the day. In spirits we preserve it from decay. But for what end, it is not hard to guess — Not for its value, but its ugliness." 1775- " Freneau's longest and most carefully written poems were : * The House of Night,' ' The Jamaica Funeral,' and ' The Beauties of Santa Cruz ; ' his most admired is ' The British Prison Ship.' " The influence of Freneau's wandering and un- settled life is visible in his literary labors, a large portion of which were inspired by the stirring events that were passing around him. For this reason, per- haps, he is not so well known as many other writers to the general reader, even in his own country ; while the fierce hostility to England and King George which the great revolutionary struggle had raised in his mind, and which he expresses in very unmeasured language, prevented his being popular among English- men, who, indeed, have been generally neglectful of the literature of America. Yet Freneau, as the * patriot poet,' long enjoyed a very extensive popularity among his own countrymen, and no doubt he deserves to stand among their best poets. There is an ease in his verse, combined with a great command of language, and, at the same time, a simplicity of expression and delicacy of handling, which makes us regret that it was so often employed on subjects the interest of Philip Frcnean which was of a temporary character. Many of his poems of a more miscellaneous character present beauties of no ordinary kind, while the playful or satirical humour oi others is perfect." On the evening of March thirteenth of the year 1883, Professor James D. Murray of Princeton Col- lege delivered a lecture upon the poet and his poetry before the Long Island Historical Society in the soci- ety's building. In regard to his poetry, which is the only portion of the lecture that we shall quote in this chapter, he said : " Freneau was a genius in his way, and had brilliant instincts. Some of his poetry spmng from the intense flame ot oppression, and as a poet he blew it to a white heat. He was possessed of an im- petuous flow of song for freedom, and his wit was pungent and stinging. That he used this with effect can readily be seen by any person who reads his sup- posed interview with King George and Fox. Then take his exquisite dirge of the heroes of Eutaw Springs, his odes like ' Benedict Arnold's Departure ; ' some parts of them are unrivalled. His works show that he imitated in some degree both Gray and Shelley. Campbell and Scott did not hesitate to borrow from him. . . . His literary essays were also in this peculiar vein ; for instance, his ' Advice to Authors,' his ' Ora- tion upon Rum,' and a series of character sketches. His 'City Burving Places' antedates some of our modern sut][gestions." " There was no difficulty in versification with him," wrote Dr. Francis. " I told him what I had heard Jeffrey, the eminent Scotch reviewer, say of his writ- ings, that the time would arrive when his poetry, like that of Hudibras, would command a commentator like Grey." " The poetry of the revolutionary era was not of an exhilarating character certainly, for with the out- breaking of hostilities there came an outburst otherwise [ -'^^ ] The Poet of the Revolution than tuneful of patriotic ballads, songs, and doggerel satires, to all of which at this distance the sounds of the combatants' fife and drum seems a fitting accom- paniment. One poet there was, however, who may justly be awarded that title on account of the occa- sional lyrics which are in pleasing contrast with the verses of his contemporaries ; some of which are char- acterized by a grace and tenderness as well as by a skilful versification that gives them a peculiar charm. Freneau wrote for a purpose, and that purpose accom- plished he was satisfied ; had he striven to be or become a poet in the best sense of the word, he might have be- come one, but he used his gift as a means to an end, occasionally solacing his moments of freedom from care by using his pen for his pleasure, but this was seldom." ^ "He depicts land and naval fights with much ani- mation and gay coloring ; and being himself a son of old Neptune, he is never at a loss for appropriate cir- cumstances and expressive diction when the scene lies at sea. — His martial and political ballads are free from , . bombast and affectation, and often have an arch simplic- ity in their manner that renders them very poignant and striking. If the ballads and songs of Dibdin have cheered the spirits and incited the valor of the British Tars, the strains of Freneau, in like manner, are cal- culated to impart patriotic impulses to the hearts of his countrymen, and their eflfect in this way should be taken as a test of their merit. Many of his composi- tions relating to persons and things now forgotten are no longer interesting, but he evinced more genius and more enthusiasm than any other poet whose powers were called into action during the great struggle for liberty, and was the most distinguished poet of our revolutionary period. " It is not to be forgotten, however, that Freneau i Centennial Journals, i88. [ 217 ] Philip Freneau had other claims to attention as a poet, than his liter- ary association with the events of the Revolution. He was essentially of a poetic mood, and had many traits of rare excellence in the divine art. His mind was warmed into admiration at the beauties of land- scape ; his conceptions were imaginative ; visionary scenes swarmed before his imagination ; and the same susceptibility of mind which led him to invest with interest the fading fortunes of the Indian, and Nature's prodigality in the luxurious scenery of the tropics, made him keenly appreciative of the humble ways and manners of his race. The practical Captain Fre- neau combined humor with fancy, and his Muse, laying aside what Milton termed ' her singing robes,' could wear with ease the garments of every-day life. The common, once familiar incidents and manners of his time will be found pleasantly reflected in many a quaint picture in his poems." ^ " The poems of Philip Freneau," if we may be al- lowed here to repeat our estimate of his powers from a sketch written some years ago, " represent his times, the war of wit and verse no less than of sword and stratagem of the Revolution ; and he superadds to this material a humorous simplicity peculiarly his own, in which he paints the life of village rustics, with their local manners fresh about them; of days when tavern de- lights were to be freely spoken of, before temperance societies and Maine laws were thought of; when men went to prison at the summons of inexorable creditors, and when Connecticut deacons rushed out of meeting to arrest and waylay the passing Sunday traveller. When these humours of the day were exhausted, and the impulses of patriotism were gratified in song, when he had paid his respects to Rivington and Hugh Gaines, he solaced himself with remoter themes : in the version of an ode of Horace, a visionary 1 Giulian C. Verplanck, in Analectic Magazine. \2l8\ The Poet of the Revolution meditation on the antiquities of America, or a sen- timental effusion on the loves of Sappho. These show the fine tact and delicate handling of Freneau, who deserves much more consideration in this respect from critics than he has received. A writer from whom the fastidious Campbell, in his best day, thought it worth while to borrow an entire line, is worth looking into. It is from Freneau's " Indian Burying-Ground," the last image of that fine visionary stanza : — " ' By midnight moons, o'er moistening dews, In vestments for the chase array'd, The hunter still the deer pursues. The hunter and the deer — a shade.' " Campbell has given this line a rich setting in * O'Conner's Child ' : — " ' Now on the grass-green turf he sits, His tassell'd horn beside him laid ; Now o'er the hills in chase he flits. The hunter and the deer a shade.^ " There is also a line of Sir Walter Scott which has its prototype in Freneau. In the introduction to the third canto of ' Marmion,' in the apostrophe to the Duke of Brunswick, we read : — " * Lamented chief ! — not thine the power To save in that presumptuous hour. When Prussia hurried to the field, Jnd snatched the spear but left the shield.* " In Freneau's poem on the heroes of Eutaw, we have this stanza : — " ' They saw their injur'd country's woe ; The flaming town, the wasted field. Then rush'd to meet the insulting foe ; They took the spear — but left the shield.' " An anecdote which the late Henry Brevoort was accustomed to relate of his visit to Scott, affords as- Philip Freneau surance that the poet was really indebted to Freneau, and that he would not, on a proper occasion, have hesitated to acknowledge the obligation. Mr. Bre- voort was asked by Scott respecting the authorship of certain verses on the battle of Eutaw, which he had seen in a magazine, and had by heart, and which he knew were American. He was told that they were by Freneau, when he (Scott) remarked, ' The poem is as fine a thing as there is of the kind in the language.' Scott also praised one of the Indian poems. " Freneau surprises us often by his neatness of exe- cution and skill in versification. He handles a triple- rhymed stanza in the octosyllabic measure particularly well. His appreciation of nature is tender and sym- pathetic, — one of the pure springs which fed the more boisterous current of his humour when he came out among men, to deal with quackery, pretence, and injustice. But what is, perhaps, most worthy of notice in Freneau is his originality, the instinct with which his genius marked out a path for itself in those days when most writers were languidly leaning upon the old foreign school of Pope and Dryden. He was not afraid of home things' and incidents. Dealing with facts and realities, and the life around him, wherever he was, his writings have still an interest where the vague expressions of other poets are for- gotten. It is not to be denied, however, that Fre- neau was sometimes careless. He thought and wrote with improvidence. His jests are sometimes misdi- rected ; and his verses are unequal in execution. Yet it is not too much to predict that, through the genuine nature of some of his productions, and the historic incidents of others, all that he wrote will yet be called for, and find favour in numerous editions." ^ " Freneau's originality was very marked. He fol- 1 Cyclopaedia of American Literature. The remainder of this chapter is taken from Mr. Edward Delancey's address to the Huguenot Society. [ 2 20 ] 'The Poet of the Revolution lowed not in the steps of Dryden, nor any other of the poets of the Augustan age ; nor, like his contem- poraries Trumbull and Barlow, in those of Young and Pope. Not only did he not follow classic example, but he struck out a style of his own. Free, clear, and expressive, he cast aside the trammels of the stately verse in which his predecessors and contemporaries delighted, and wrote just as he seems to have felt, and in whatever way he deemed most appropriate to his subject. Although careless in his rhymes at times, he was, nevertheless, always effective. " So long was his life that he wrote some of his finest poems after the advent of that brilliant galaxy of poets who burst forth in the early part of this nineteenth century. But not a trace of Moore, Southey, Campbell, Rogers, Scott, Wordsworth, or Byron, is to be found in the last two small volumes of^his poems which he gave to the world in 1815. " Freneau's prose writings were of two kinds : brief essays on many subjects, after the manner of the Spectator and the Tatler ; and travels and reports of an imaginary character, related and made to their kings by an inhabitant of Otaheite and a Creek Indian, after their return from civilized lands, after the example of Voltaire. To these may be added his political disquisitions and translations from French historical writers. The best of the former were written over the pen-name of * Robert Slender.' All are pleasing, witty, humorous, easy and agreeable, and show great and close power of observation. His political writings, action, and opinions are a most in- teresting theme, but they would require a full essay to be adequately presented. The ardor of his nature and the firmness of his opinions, with the vigor and terseness of his style, made him an adversary to be feared. " During the period of his sea life is to be ascribed / Philip Frtncau some of his hnest and most perfect descriptions of nature, especially of nature in the tropics. Two poems, one styled ' The Beauties oi Santa Cruz,' and the other descriptive of the shores of Carolina and Charleston, are instinct with true poetic tire. His versitied translations from the Latin show how well his college days were spent, and how late in life he kept up his classic studies. No finer rendition of the fifteenth ode of the first book oi Horace, Nereus's prophecy ot the destruction ot Trov, than Freneau's exists ; while his translation of Grav's famous ' Ode written at the Grande Chartreuse,' is as striking and beautiful as the original itself " Freneau's poetry may be considered in three classes, — war lyrics and satires; poems on general subjects and descriptions ot nature ; and translations from the classic poets and those of Italy and France; with a few which do not strictly tall under either o^ these heads. They yary greatly in style and finish, some w;inting much of the latter quality. Freneau was natur.illy impulsive, inclined to indolence, and otten careless ; and his verse sometimes reflects his moods. He seems to h.ive written just as the inci- dent or event happened which tormed his theme, or as the idea he expressed occurred to him. Like many men of active intellect and quick perceptions, he lacked application. Content to write for the hour, and satis- fied if the ettect or object aimed at was secured, he little reiiT'irded the future of the children of his brain. Hence ne has left us no great narrative poem and no epic. *' His verse is wonderfiil for its ease, simplicity, humor, great command oi lani^uai^e, and delicacy ot handling. Except Drvden and Byron no poet of America or England has shown himself a greater master oi Englisn or of rhvme. The luxuriance ot his stanzas is something amazing. Only to the tem- [ 222 ] The Poet of the Revolution porary nature of the subjects of most of his verse, especially oi his satires, can be ascribed the des- uetude into which his poems have fallen. In vigor, sentiment, playfulness, and humor, manv of them cannot be surpassed, and their beauties of form and expression are as great now as when thev were first given to the world. " But Freneau possessed other and deeper poetic gifts. We have all wondered at and admired the poems of that strange son ot genius of our dav, the late Edgar Allan Poe. Yet the strange power of that extraordinary man existed also in the earlier poet. His 'House of Night — a Vision' prefigured the wondrous conceptions of the author of ' The Raven.' Though not at all alike, there is in the supernatural weirdness of each a similarity. Freneau's dreamer, wandering at midnight in a dark wood, comes upon a noble dome. Entering and ascending, he hears ' a hollow voice of loud lament ' from out a vaulted chamber, which proves to be that of Death personified in human form, stretched on his dying bed. He is attended by the castle's lord, who has just suffered a heavy affliction; and who, in obedience to the divine precept, * If thine enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst give him drink,' tries to assuage his sufferings, but at the same time tells him that his end is inevitable. Death gives him certain directions, orders his own burial, and dies in the greatest agony. Then follows a most vivid description of the burial. The vision ends ; the dreamer awakes, and the poem closes with some reflections on Death. " Another, and very different gift which Freneau possessed in an extraordinary degree was his power of invective. In this, some of his satires rival the * Absalom and Achitophel,' and ' English Bards and Scotch Reviewers ' in vigor, as well as in the torrent- like flow of the verse. Listen to these lines upon an [ 223 ] Philip Freneau opponent who had attacked him in abusive rhyme, and whom, under an odd name, he has immortalized : — " ' Hail, great Mac Swiggen,' " etc. As Mac Swiggen has already been served up to our readers we will spare them the remainder of the quotation. " This is certainly equal to Dryden," — that is, Mac Swiggen's eulogy, not our digression, — " yet Freneau wrote it when only twenty-three." In speaking of another of Freneau's early poems, one written at the age of eighteen while at Nassau Hall, and which we have mentioned in his college life, this author, after quoting several portions of it, says : — " Is not this true poetry ? Is it not extraordinary as the work of a youth of eighteen years? But one other American poet ever wrote anything to com- pare with it so early in life. Bryant wrote at nine- teen his * Thanatopsis,' and never later did he surpass that poem, although it contains but eighty- one lines. " Totally dissimilar as these two poets were, in almost every characteristic, physical and mental, Fre- neau being as warm as Bryant was cold, there was yet a singular parallelism in their literary careers. Both were educated men, both college graduates, Freneau of Princeton, Bryant of WiUiams ; both wrote as mere youths, and wrote then as men of twice their ages might be proud to write. Both studied law and then threw it aside. Both became hot politicians and fierce political writers. Both had an irresistible desire to pub- lish newspapers, and both became editors of their own papers, and editors of power. Both wrote vigorous, nervous, yet polished prose. Both continued to write poetry during their whole lives. Both were eminent as translators of the ancient classics. Both made purely "The Poet of the Revolution literary ventures, and both wrote satires, and bitter ones. Both became involved in personal conflicts. Both wrote strongly against slavery. Both were eminently wor- shippers, as well as poets of nature. Both, as their lives grew apace, left the press to others, and passed their latter days in quiet retirement. And both en- joyed almost the longest span of life allotted to man, Freneau dying in his eighty-first, and Bryant in his eighty-sixth year. " But here the parallel ends, for, unlike Bryant, Freneau wrote better in later life than in youth, and his range of subjects and kinds of verse were wider and more varied. Bryant possessed great application, how- ever, while Freneau had little. In fact the latter was too versatile for his own good. " Such was the poetry of the Huguenot patriot of the Revolution. Born eight years before the death of George the Second, and living far into the presidency of the seventh ruler of the United States, General Andrew Jackson, Philip Freneau is the only poet whose ringing verse roused alike the hearts and nerved the arms of two generations of Americans against England. He immortalized alike the successes of the Revolution and those of the war of 1812. He sang, with equal spirit, force, and fire, the glory of Trenton and the triumph of Chippewa, the conqueror of Yorktown and the victor of Niagara. He sang, too, the heroic battles of Paul Jones on the German Ocean, and those of Perry and McDonough on the waves of Erie and the waters of Champlain, and also, but in sadder strains, the fate of Andre and the death of Ross." We have several times mentioned the poem on the battle of " Eutaw Springs " and as it is, in our opinion, the most beautiful of all Freneau's poems we will close this chapter on his writings by giving it to our readers. [ ^5 ] V22S\ Philip Freneau EUTAW SPRINGS. At Eutaw Springs the valiant died : Their limbs with dust are covered o'er ; Weep on, ye springs, your tearful tide ; How many heroes are no more ! If in this wreck of ruin, they Can yet be thought to claim a tear, O smite thy gentle breast, and say The friends of freedom slumber here! Thou who shalt trace this bloody plain. If goodness rules thy generous breast. Sigh for the wasted rural reign ; Sigh for the shepherds sunk to rest ! Stranger, their humble graves adorn ; You too may fall and ask a tear : 'T is not the beauty of the morn That proves the evening shall be clear. They saw their injured country's woe. The flaming town, the wasted field Then rushed to meet the insulting foe ; They took the spear but left the shield. Led by thy conquering standards, Greene, The Britons they compelled to fly ; None distant viewed the fatal plain. None grieved in such a cause to die — But like the Parthians, famed of old, Who, flying, still their arrows threw. These routed Britons, full as bold. Retreated, and retreating slew. Now rest in peace, our patriot band ; Though far from nature's limits thrown, We trust they find a happier land, A brighter Phoebus of their own. 1786. \226\ Chapter Twelfth IT would seem that the name of Freneau was likely to die out. Philip was the only descendant of the American branch that had a family ; and his four children were all daughters. The two younger ones, Catherine Ledyard and Margaret, never married ; his eldest daughter, Helen Denise, married Mr. John Hammill, a merchant of New York, and had four daughters ; none of whom have left any descendants. Agnes Watson Freneau, the poet's second and tavorite child, is said to have been beautiful in her youth, and she retained much of her beauty even to an advanced age. She was a person of rare intelli- gence and refinement of taste, and possessed an active and vigorous temperament and a genial and sociable disposition. She inherited from both parents a great love for poetry and other literature, and like them she was a great reader, and a charming conversationalist. Her tastes were much the same as those of her father, which fact seemed to bind them even more closely to- gether, and cause them to be almost constant com- panions trom the time Agnes was old enough to be companionable to him. She frequently accompanied her father to New York to attend dinner and card parties, then greatly in vogue ; and her vivacity and personal attractiveness caused her to be much admired. But, notwithstanding Agnes' love of society, she was capable of deep thought, and her memory was so retentive that even to old age she has entertained her triends by reciting, at some length, passages from her tavorite poets that she had committed to memory in her young days. She also composed some creditable poems, but our informant says that she probably [227] Philip Freneau either destroyed them, or gave them away, as they were not found among her papers. In the year 1816 Agnes married Mr. Edward Lead- beater, a prominent merchant of New York, and grad- uate of Trinity College, Dublin, formerly a surgeon in the British army. He was a son of Dr. Henry Leadbeater, a prominent physician, who owned a fine estate near Coote Hill, County Cavan, Ireland. Dr. Leadbeater was physician to, as well as an intimate friend of. Lord Beresford, who was foremost in church and state. He and his son, Agnes' husband, were fond of fox-hunting, and kept fine hounds for the purpose. An old gentleman, who died within the last decade of years, aged ninety, remembered them well, and enjoyed talking of them ; he said they entertained the nobility a great deal.^ Mr. Edward Leadbeater's aunt by marriage was an authoress of some note, and was an intimate friend of Miss Maria Edgeworth. Miss Edgeworth wrote the preface for Mrs. Leadbeater's work, entitled " Poems and College Dialogues." Mrs. Leadbeater also left a manuscript history of the events in the family and neighborhood, entitled " Annals of Ballytown," which, with her correspondence with the mother of Archbishop Trench of Dublin, and also with the poet Crabbe, were published in two volumes by Fisher, under the title of ^ " Leadbeater Papers." Many of the anecdotes con- tained in her " Annals " were gained in her frequent visits among the poor, in company with the wife of the Episcopal minister, the Rev. Mr. Pyncheon. Mrs. Leadbeater was a Miss Shackletoii, daughter and sister of the two presidents of Ballytore School, in which Edmund Burke first studied ; the second presi- dent, son of the former one, was his schoolmate and friend. ^ Dr. Leadbeater had an offer of knighthood, but he declined the proffered courtesy. AGNES WATSON FRENEAU LEADBEATER Favorite Daughter of the Poet The Poet of the Revolution Mr. Edward Leadbeater's sister, Alicia, arrived in America with her husband and son, Henry, the same year in which her brother married Miss Freneau. Alicia had married Mr. Patrick O'Reilly, a merchant, who, in the great financial crisis attending the downfall of Napoleon First, had become seriously involved, and, meeting with little sympathy from their relatives, the young couple emigrated to America. Shortly after their arrival Mr. O'Reilly visited the island of Cuba, where he had relatives, but died of yellow fever almost immediately upon his arrival there. One of the prin- cipal streets of Havana is named after the family of the Marquis O'Reilly, formerly Governor-General of Louisiana when under the Spanish rule, and afterwards of Cuba. There was a little romance in the history of Alicia and her husband; both having drawn upon themselves the great displeasure of their relatives, each being the first to marry into the religion peculiarly obnoxious to their respective families. Alicia's husband was a Cath- olic, while she belonged to the Church of England, and her family let her feel the weight of their displeas- ure, while his were even more greatly displeased. That he should unite himself to a heretic, and one of that hated religion that had been the cause of their losing their extensive possessions, titles, and religious rights, was a crime not to be forgiven. The family of Alicia's husband had suffered greatly from the penal laws, but they were stanch in their faith ; their sons, for generations, had been sent abroad to study, and many of them preferred to settle in for- eign lands rather than return to a country in which their religion was held in opprobrium, and in which they had been denied their commonest rights, — the possessions and titles of their ancestors, which were the earldom of Cavan and marquisate of BrefFney. Two of the relatives of Alicia's husband had held Philip Freneau the archbishopric of Armagh. The one, Hugh O'Reilly, whose signature is even now seen on the manifestoes of 1741 as Hugo Armacansis, headed the Confederates of Kilkenny when the chiefs of Ulster rose in arms to contend tor their rights and religious liberty, and to secure the lands of their ancestors of which they had been despoiled by the confiscation called the " Plantation of Ulster," by which James the First seized on the hereditary possessions of the Irish chiefs and transferred them to his followers. The other, Daniel O'Reilly, was private chaplain to Maria Theresa, of Austria, and so won her good will that she used her influence with the Holy Father to have him, upon his desire to return to his native land, appointed Archbishop of Armagh. The Em- press, however, retained his brother Andrew in her service, appointing him first to the command of her advanced posts in northern Italy and of the fortress of Lecco on Lake Como. She passed him through all the military grades in the Austrian army save that of Field Marshal. Andrew signalized himself in the service of his adopted country, and at the battle of Austerlitz by his bravery and skill saved the last of the armv from total destruction. As Governor of Vienna, Count O'Reillv had the difficult task of capitulating honorably with Napoleon.^ The late Mr. Henry O'Reillv had in his possession a letter written on vellum from Count Andrew O'Reillv to his brother Daniel, after the latter's return to Ireland as Archbishop of Armagh." Other relics ^ Napoleon remarked as he entered Vienna, " It is strange that on each occasion — in November, 1805, as on this day — on arriving in the Austrian capital, I find myself in treaty and in intercourse with the respectable General O'Reilly. It was the dragoon regiment of O'Reilly's command, le Troisieme Chevaux Legeres, that by their brilliant charge at Austerlitz saved the remnant of the Austrian army, December 2, 1805." 2 Lord Edward Fitzgerald was related to this family. It is said that the White House, Washington, was modelled from his residence. The house of Talbot de Malahide is connected with it by marriage. [ 230 \ The Poet of the Revolution Mr. O'Reilly had in his possession, amongst which were a set of etchings to which is attached a history. A grand-uncle, for the great misdemeanor of acting upon his rights as a Catholic priest to say mass, saw, as he was passing through the streets carrying these etchings, placards being posted around tor his apprehension, to which a reward was attached. Thinking his best safety lay in flight, he started for the shore, and made arrangements tor his passage to a place of safety. During the passage, the sailors were conversing about the reward, and fearing they suspected him, the priest acknowledged his identity, and threw him- self upon their protection. He was not mistaken in his countrymen ; they landed him out of danger, with the etchings under his arm, and he made his way to Antwerp, where he became president of the university of that city. Other members of the family went to other coun- tries, in all of wiiich they rose to distinction. There is a pretty legend in the family which runneth thus : — "At the time of the invasion of Ireland by the Danes, Brian O'Reileigh, as the name was at that time spelled, of Balaraharnahan, was sent out in com- mand of a scouting party by the commander-in-chief of the Irish forces, and at the hour of noon on a very warm day in August stopped to rest on the margin of one of the enchanted lakes of Kilkenny. Enrap- tured with the romantic scenery and placid waters spread out before him, he lingered long after his allotted time, and the tirst thing he knew he was sur- rounded by a large Danish force. Remembering that an old fairy, a particular friend of his family, resided in that vicinity, he called on her for assistance. She appeared to him, and showed him the only way by which he could escape — a narrow pass through the mountains. [ 231 \ Philip FrcHcau " ' But," said she, ' if that he guarded, there is noth- ing lett tor you save by the strong arm.^ Fight vour wav throui:h, and the tairies \\-ill betriend the destiny ot the O'Reileighs to the latest generation.' " He found the pass defended by countless myriads of Danish spears, but he \vent through by force of the strong jrw, losing scarcely a man." It will be seen from the legend that the name has seen some changes from the tirst, and Henry O'Riellv chani^ed it yet further, as in early days, the Irish names not being so well known as at present, he was constantly called as if the ci were double i. It was to avoid this pronunciation that he spelled his name con- trary to the usual way, reversing the letters e and /. Probably it was for a similar reason that Philip Fre- neau left the letter j out of his name, as Americans would in all probability sound it as it was spelled, *"■ Fre.meau." Oi\ account o\ the de-ath of his tather. Mr. Edward Leadbeater went to Ireland to settle up the esrate, but finding that it would cxiuse a greater delay than he had anticipated, he returned to America to put his :il?iiirs in order for a prolonged absence ; but before he had succee-vied in doing so, he tell ill, and died in the spring of the very vear in which Philip Freneau died. His death is recorded on the same pasje with his marriage, and was the last entry made by P*hilip. His marriage and death read thus : — ^^ Agnes Watson Freneau, second daughter o^ Philip Fre- neau and Eleanor Fomian, was married to Mr. Edward Lead- beater, merchant of the city of New York, Nov. 25th, 1S16, bv the Rev. John Croes, in the twenty-third year of her age." * The nime O'Reilhr in ti» Irish language sigmftolicy. Mrs. Lead- beater lived under every administration from the first till Cleveland's first term inclusive. Xotwithsranding ^ Mr.Gri^.ths has puhltstwd the Utie of Townsend Hams uoder the thk of '* Our First Diftloaut to Japan." * TKere ij: a cowpkte and exhaustive record of tke Harr^ family in p«