Westchester County, New York, During the American Revolution
The other class of souls reside in America, " and must be called souls of the basest mould ; these " wretches, by the God of nature, have been suffered " to receive their being in a land of happiness, and " have been nursed up in a land of liberty and " plenty ; but O monstrous ingratitude ! Without " the least remorse, without any spur to real ambi- " tion, they forsake their country ! in short they are " divested of every trace of human perfection, except " one trifling gleam of hope, which the devil has ever " made use of to delude his votaries ; and this, will " eventually end in despair. Yet these mens souls, " dare attempt with their Syren songs, to lull even " virtue itself to sleep, in the hopes that she may yet '' split on the rocks. -- One day we are charmed with " peace, clemency, and pardon ; riches and plenty " are to be powered into our dwellings ; tyrants and " heroes are to drop their crowns and their laurels at " our feet, that we may partake of the banquet, if we " will only bow the knee to satan. But, if we are " stern enough to deny passive obedience, then ter-
WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
" ror and dismay are to assault us, all the British *' navy shall knock down our pompous cities ; thou- " sands and tens of thousands of forces are to crimson " o'er the spacious plains with blood ; Canadian big- 41 otry and persecution is to pour in upon us from " the North ; the Indians, with horrid barbarity, are " to torment us from the West ; and perhaps pesti- " lence and Spaniards from the South. -- This, ye sor- '' did mortals, is the true picture of your base hearts ; " this is the scene, on which you could feast your " eyes with rapture, provided the rocks and the " mountains might cover you. -- But now let me tell " you, that were all this possible, there are fifteen out " of twenty, throughout this vast continent, all Free- " dom's sons, whose blood is neither contaminated " with paltry bribe, or coward fear ; who would face " all this terror, rather than sell their birthright for a " mess of pottage, or be a means of transmitting mis- " ery and infamy to their posterity.