“When _seven_ and _six_ shall make but _one_,
The _Lion’s _ might shall be undone.”
_Verse 1._—The settlement of America by a civilized nation is very
clearly alluded to in the first line. The frantic mother is Britain.
America still feels the wounds she has received from her.
_Verse 2._—The Cock is France, the Dove is America, Columbia; their
union is the epocha when America shall cease to love Britain.
_Verse 3._—In many parts of Europe there are subterranean works carried
on by persons who never see the light of day. But perhaps the solution
may more particularly be referred to the siege of York, in Virginia,
where the approaches were carried on by working in the earth. In the
second line there is another equivoque. We are told by Mr. Addison, in
his “Spectator,” that a lion will not hurt a true maid. This, at first
view, seems to be contradicted by the prophecy; but, on examination, the
epocha referred to, the virgin, Columbia (or, perhaps, _Virginia_, by
which name all North America was called in the days of Queen Elizabeth),
shall wound the _lion_,—that is, _Britain_,—which shows the precise time
when the oracle should be accomplished.
_Verse 4_ clearly alludes to the successes of the united forces of
America and France against those of Britain.
_Verse 5._—For the solution of this oracle, as well as all the rest, we
are indebted to the engraving of the _arms_ of the _United States_ in
the “Columbian Magazine” for September, 1786. America is clearly
designated by the eagle’s nest, as it is the only part of the globe
where the _bald eagle_ (the arms of the United States) is to be found.
Thus, this hitherto inexplicable prophecy may now be easily understood
as meaning that when the _cock_—that is, France—shall protect America
(as she did during the late war), the stars—that is, the standard of the
American empire—shall rise in this western hemisphere.
_Verse 6._—It is very remarkable that the first discovery of the
amazing properties of inflammable air, by means of which men have been
able to explore a region till then impervious to them, happened in the
same year when _Britain’s_ strength was so reduced as to oblige her to
acknowledge the independence of America. The _boats_ in which the
adventurous aeronauts traversed the upper regions are the _ships_ here
referred to.
Thus far the prophecy seems to have been already fully and literally
accomplished: it is to be hoped that the accomplishment of those which
remain is not far remote.
_Verse 7_ I understand to mean that when the _sea_ (_Neptune’s back_) is
_red_ with the _American stripes_, the naval power of Britain shall
decline. A proper exertion in the art of ship-building would soon
produce this effect; and whenever Congress is vested with the power of
regulating the commerce of America, we may hope to see the full
accomplishment of this prediction.
_Verse 8._—This oracle clearly alludes to an epocha not far removed, as
we may hope; for when the _thirteen_ United States shall, under the
auspices of the present _federal convention_, have strengthened and
cemented their union by a proper revisal of the articles of
confederation, so as to be really but ONE NATION, Britain will no longer
be able to maintain that rank and consequence among the nations of the
earth which she had hitherto done.
Since the publication of this explanation, the fulfilment of the two
last has become a part and portion of our history. That Neptune’s back
is red with the stripes and, we may add, stars, every child knows; and
the sickly lion already hides his head, not only beneath the folds of
our flag, but plays second fiddle to the cock of France.
The eighth is fully accomplished, and ’76, as well as seven and six,
form a pleasing illustration of the prophecy, as they do one of the most
interesting incidents in our history. The thirteen States (seven and
six) have multiplied nearly thrice since the Declaration of
Independence, and are now, as then, but one, and that one a nation.
Walter Scott, speaking of Merlin, or the Savage, as he was called, says,
“The particular spot in which he is buried is still shown, and appears,
from the following quotation, taken from a description of Tweeddale,
1715, to have partaken of his prophetic qualities:—
‘When Tweed and Pausayl meet
At Merlin’s grave,
Scotland and England shall one
Monarch have.’
For the same day that our King James the Sixth was crowned king of
England, the river Tweed, by an extraordinary flood, so far overflowed
its banks that it met and joined with the Pausayl at the said grave,
which was never before observed to fall out.”
The precise spot pointed out to travellers is situated near Drumelzier,
a village upon the Tweed.
_FOURTH OF JULY, 1776._
“The first motion in Congress was to declare this country
independent.”
The first assembling of the Revolutionary Congress took place in this
city on the 5th of September, 1774. Subsequently the progress of the war
continued to ripen the public mind and feelings for a total separation
from Great Britain. It was not, however, until the 7th of June, 1776,
that any special action was had for that purpose. On that day Richard
Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia, made the following motion, which
was seconded by John Adams:—
“To declare these united colonies free and independent States; that they
are dissolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all
political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and
ought to be totally dissolved; that measures should be immediately taken
for procuring assistance of foreign powers, and that a confederation be
formed to bind the colonies more closely together.”
On the following day the subject was debated, and on the 1st of July a
committee consisting of five delegates—Messrs. Jefferson, Adams,
Franklin, R. Sherman, and R. R. Lawrence—was selected by ballot to draft
a DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
According to parliamentary usage, Mr. Lee would have been the chairman
of this committee; but he was absent in Virginia on account of the
illness of a member of his family. Mr. Jefferson, however, having the
greatest number of votes, was selected by the other members of the
committee to act as chairman, and the draft prepared by him was first
read in committee. Some verbal alterations were made by Dr. Franklin and
Mr. Adams, and it was not thought necessary to read the drafts prepared
by the others. It was stated at the time that the other members of the
committee were so pleased with Mr. Jefferson’s draft that they would not
submit theirs even for consideration. Perhaps no higher compliment was
ever paid to the author of _our_ Declaration of Independence than that
which emanated from the gentlemen who composed this committee.
The Declaration, thus prepared and amended, was finally adopted in
Congress on the 4th, and was read to a meeting of the citizens of
Philadelphia, assembled at the State-House yard, from the steps of the
building.
The house in which Mr. Jefferson wrote the Declaration is still
standing, at the southwest corner of Seventh and Market Streets. Mr.
Jefferson had rooms in it as a lodger when a member of the Congress of
’76. Two days before the adoption of the Declaration and its
promulgation, Mr. Adams, in a letter addressed to his wife, makes use of
the following language:—
“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding
generations as the grand anniversary festival. It ought to be
commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God
Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports,
guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent
to the other, from this time forward and forever.
“I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure that it will cost
us to maintain this declaration and to support and defend the States:
yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of light and glory. I can
see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity
will triumph, although you and I may rue it,—which I hope we shall not.”
When the bell sounded forth from the steeple of the old State-House, the
first peal for liberty gave new life to the citizens: from lip to lip,
from street to street, from city, town, and through the country, away,
away, the words roll like the waves of the ocean, and reverberating like
the roar of the wind as, undulating, it passed through all space. The
city of Philadelphia on the afternoon of July 4, 1776, presented to view
a city convulsed. Joy united with patriotism, and then the word
“Freedom!” became the watchword.
When the news reached New York, the bells were set ringing, and the
excited multitude, surging hither and thither, at length gathered around
the Bowling Green, and, seizing the leaden equestrian statue of George
III. which stood there, broke it into fragments: this was afterwards run
into bullets and hurled against his majesty’s troops.[35] When the
Declaration arrived in Boston, the people gathered around old Faneuil
Hall to hear it read, and, as the last sentence fell from the lips of
the reader, a loud shout went up, and soon from every fortified height
and every battery the thunder of cannon re-echoed the cry.
_LIBERTY-TREE._
During the Stamp Act excitement there arose a practice of signifying
public sentiment in a very effectual way,—though without any responsible
agent, unless the inanimate Liberty-Tree may be so considered. This tree
was a majestic elm that stood in front of a house opposite the Boylston
market, on the edge of the “High Street,” in the town of Boston. On the
14th of August, 1765, an effigy representing Andrew Oliver, a gentleman
appointed to distribute the stamps, was found hanging upon this tree,
with a paper before it, on which was written, in large characters,—
“Fair Freedom’s glorious cause I’ve meanly quitted,
For the sake of pelf;
But, ah, the devil has me outwitted,
And, instead of stamping others, I’ve hang’d myself.
“P.S.—Whoever takes this down is an enemy to his country.” On the right
arm was written “A. O.,” and on the left,
“What greater pleasure can there be
Than to see a stamp man hanging on a tree?”
On another part of the tree a boot was suspended,—the emblem of the Earl
of Bute, First Lord of the Treasury,—from which the devil, with the
Stamp Act in his hand, was looking out. Chief Justice—afterwards
Governor—Hutchinson, directed the sheriff to remove this exhibition; but
his deputies, from a fear of the popular feeling, declined. In the
evening the figures were taken down by the people and carried in
procession through the streets. After demolishing the stamp-office, in
State Street, they proceeded to Fort Hill, where a bonfire was made of
the pageantry in sight of Mr. Oliver’s house. It being intimated to Mr.
Oliver that it would conduce to the quiet of the public if he would go
to the tree and openly resign his commission, he appeared the next day,
and declared, in the presence of a large concourse of people, that he
would not continue in office. It was thenceforward called the
Liberty-Tree, and the following inscription placed upon it:—“This tree
was planted in the year 1614, and pruned by the order of the Sons of
Liberty, February 14, 1766.” On future occasions there was seldom any
excitement on political subjects without some evidence of it appearing
on this tree. Whenever obnoxious offices were to be resigned or
agreements for patriotic purposes entered into, the parties were
notified to appear at the tree, “where they always found pens and paper,
and a numerous crowd of witnesses, though the genius of the tree was
invisible. When the British army took possession of Boston, in 1774,
Liberty-Tree fell a victim to their vengeance, or to that of the persons
to whom its shade had been disagreeable.” Liberty-trees were consecrated
in Charlestown, Lexington, and Roxbury, Mass., and also in Charleston,
S.C., Newport and Providence, R.I.—_Tudor’s Life of Otis_.