" But, O ye men of Cortlandt, let us for a moment " view the windings of that arch serpent which hath ■" beguiled you ; with what pleasing sensations, he " surveys your fine fields, your harvests, and your "herds; and how he commends and admires the ■"trickling drops that pour down your brows; no " doubt these are delicious charms to him ; yet, one ■" thing on your part, is absolutely necessary ; and " that is, your loyalty, only establish that, and he can " easily take care of the rest of your business. -- With " what elegance of stile he describes your fertile " plains, your splendid cities, your noble towers, and "" the oppulence of your marts, which has poured all " the riches of the globe into your laps ! and all this, " thro : the paternal indulgence of a tender mother.
" But he has neglected to inform you, that, for these " 12 years past, this kind . mother has become a 41 monster ! Like the cruel ostrich, she has forsaken " her young ones ; with the fierceness of a tyger, she ■" lays waste our own fair inheritence, and dashes " her sons against the stones ! -- Shakspeare makes " Hamlet express himself thus ; ' But, I am pigeon " ' livered, and lack gall to make oppression bitter.' " Whether it is the lack of gall, or the lack of sensi- ■" bility, that makes you callous to that bitter oppres- " sion that now surrounds you, I will not determine ; " but for creatures, that are said to wear the image of " the Deity, to be so lost to every noble sentiment " that ornaments the man ; must bespeak the most " amazing apathy.-- Then let me conjure you, to rise " from your lethargy, assume the dignity of freemen ; " smite the serpents that have spread their poisons " round you ; burn your associations ; and with " dauntless intrepity, join the sons of freedom, who " are the only temporal guardians of the human race.