The fourth side is subscribed thus: “And has her Liberty restored by the Royal hand of George the Third;” and is inscribed thus:
Our Faith approv’d, our Liberty restor’d,
Our Hearts bend grateful to our sov’reign Lord;
Hail darling Monarch! by this act endear’d,
Our firm affections are thy best reward—
Sh’d Britain’s self against herself divide,
And hostile Armies frown on either side;
Sh’d hosts rebellious shake our Brunswick’s Throne,
And as they dar’d thy Parent dare the Son.
To this Asylum stretch thine happy Wing,
And we’ll contend who best shall love our King.
Beneath is the sketch—George the Third, in armor, resembling a Dutch widow, in a long-short, introducing America to the goddess of liberty, who are, apparently, just commencing the Polka—at the bottom of the engraving are the words—Paul Revere Sculp. Our ancestors dealt rather in fact than fiction—they were no poets.
Gordon refers to LIBERTY TREE, i. 175.
The fame of LIBERTY TREE spread far beyond its branches. Not long before it was cut down, by the British soldiers, during the winter of 1775-6, an English gentleman, Philip Billes, residing at Backway, near Cambridge, England, died, seized of a considerable fortune, which he bequeathed to two gentlemen, not relatives, on condition, that they would faithfully execute a provision, set forth in his will, namely, that his body should be buried, under the shadow of LIBERTY TREE, in Boston, New England. This curious statement was published in England, June 3, 1774, and may be found in the Boston Evening Gazette, first page, Aug. 22, 1774, printed by Thomas & John Fleet, sign of the Heart and Crown, Cornhill.
No. XLIII.
Josiah Carter died, at the close of December, 1774. Never was there a happier occasion, for citing the Quis desiderio, &c., and I would cite that fine ode, were it not worn threadbare, like an old coverlet, by having been, immemorially, thrown over all manner of corpses, from the cobbler’s to the king’s.
If good old Dr. Charles Chauncy were within hearing, I would, indeed, apply to him a portion of its noble passages: