The Gazette

POETRY.

"ADAMS AND LIBERTY."

The following noble SONG, written by Thomas Paine, A. M. was sung at the Anniversary of the Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society it is replete with a richness of thought, and elegance of expression that must gratify every reader.

YE sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought,
For those rights, which unalien'd from your Sires had descended,
May you long taste the blessings your valor has bought,
And your sons reap the soil, which their fathers defended.
Mid the reign of mild peace,
May your nation increase,
With the glory of Rome, and the wisdom of Greece;
And ne'er may the sons of Columbia be slaves,
While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves.

In a clime, whose rich vales feed the marts of the world,
Whose shores are unshaken by Europe's commotion,
The Trident of Commerce should never be hurl'd,
To incense the legitimate powers of the ocean.
But should Pirates invade,
Though in thunder array'd,
Let your cannon declare the free charter of Trade,
For ne'er shall, &c.

The fame of our arms, of our laws the mild sway,
Had justly ennobled our nation in story,
Till the dark clouds of Faction obscur'd our young day,
And envelop'd the sun of American glory.
But let Traitors be told,
Who their Country have sold,
And barter'd their God, for his image in gold—
That ne'er shall, &c.

While France her huge limbs bathes recumbent in blood,
And society base threats with wide dissolution;
May Peace, like the Dove, who return'd from the flood,
Find an Ark of abode in our mild Constitution!
But though Peace is our aim,
Yet the boon we disclaim,
If bought by our Sov'reignty, Justice, or Fame.
For ne'er shall, &c.

'Tis the fire of the flint each American warms;
Let Rome's haughty victors beware of collision!
Let them bring all the vassals of Europe in arms,
WE'RE A WORLD BY OURSELVES, and disdain division!
While, with patriot pride,
To our laws we're allied.
No foe can subdue us—no faction divide.
For ne'er shall, &c.

Our mountains are crown'd with imperial Oak,
Whose roots, like our Liberties, ages have nourish'd ;
But long ere our nation submits to the yoke,
Not a tree shall be left on the field where it flourish'd.
Should invasion impend,
Every grove would descend
From the hill-tops they shaded, our borders to defend.
For ne'er shall, &c.

Let our Patriots destroy Anarch's pestilent worm,
Lest our Liberty's growth should be check'd by corrosion;
Then let clouds thicken round us, we heed not the storm;
Our realm fears no shock, but the earth's own explosion.
Foemen assail us in vain,
Though their fleets bridge the main,
For our altars and laws with our lives we'll maintain.
And ne'er shall, &c.

Should the Tempest or War overshadow our land,
Its bolts could ne'er rend Freedom's temple asunder;
For, unmov'd as its portal, would WASHINGTON stand,
And repulse, with his BREAST, the assault of the THUNDER.
His sword from the sleep
Of its Scabbard would leap,
And conduct, with its point, every flash to the deep,
For ne'er shall, &c.

Let Fame to the world sound America's voice ;
No Intrigue can her sons from their Government sever;
Her PRIDE is her ADAMS—his LAWS are her CHOICE,
And shall flourish, till LIBERTY slumber forever!
Then unite, heart and hand,
Like Leonidas' band,
And swear to the GOD of the ocean and land,
That ne'er shall the sons of COLUMBIA be slaves,
While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves.