“If the Devil were himself their scribe”
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[Part of: “Let Those Flatter Who Fear”: American Independence in Verse.]
I. The Journal of Occurrences Various Newspapers, 1768-69 We now behold a town at perfect peace With angry warships anchored in its harbor. Troops occupy the court house, and defile That seat of justice; they encamp on Boston Common. The people are uneasy from the sight Of soldiers harshly whipped for drunkenness. The quartered troops are wretchedly debauched And their licentiousness increases daily. Peaceful inhabitants are beat and stabbed With muskets and with sharpened bayonets. With promises of freedom, officers Are urging slaves to cut their masters’ throats. Last night a soldier seized a married woman By the neck, and threw her on the ground. Another woman, screaming out in fear, Was wounded by a bayonet run through her cheek. An inquest judged a woman had been ravished By soldiers, and had died while she resisted. Guards warned a youth that if he did not answer, They would immediately blow his brains out. Merchants importing goods from Britain, to gratify Their avaricious cravings, disadvantage The cause of liberty. Let them be looked Upon by all with eyes of sharp contempt. Why do desertions grow? The troops have seen The people here are cheerful, hearty, and well-clad; And concluded that, although not rich, This is the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey. The tighter this unconstitutional Cable of power is drawn, the firmer we become; Until the hand that’s strong enough to break us, Must break the pillars of the British Constitution. Some now assert, of loyal subjects arming Themselves, within the law, that we intend To cause an insurrection. But if the secrets Of the human breast be so transparent, We may as easily affirm that they In calling for a military force Intend to introduce a general massacre. II. Governor Bernard to the Earl of Hillsborough Boston, February 25th, 1769 My Lord, I’ve here included several issues of The Boston Evening Post, where Samuel Adams, With his Assistants, constantly perverts, Misrepresents, and falsifies what’s said And done in Council. If the Devil were Himself their scribe, he could not have produced A greater package of seditious Lies. They publish at torrential rate; the few Pens I have cannot answer. Adams has contrived To circulate these lies across the colonies, To raise a general clamour against our Government. A report from me will follow About the troops’ behavior, proving false Accounts that have been printed. Never have So many troops, while quartered in a town Licentious as is Boston, exhibited Such patience; even as the townsmen are With every act provoking them to violence.