Page 170. Like Esop's greedy cur. Fable 118. A dog crossing a rivulet, with a piece of meat in his mouth, saw his own shadow; and believing it to be another dog with a larger piece of meat, snatched at it, with the result that he lost his own piece.
Page 173. A Poem containing Some Remarks on the Present War, etc., is from Poems | upon | Several Occasions, | viz. | I. A Poem on the Enemy's first coming | to Boston; the burning of Charles- | town; the Fight at Bunker-Hill, &c. | II. The Widow's Lamentation. | III. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream. | IV. Against Oppression. | V. An heroic Poem on the taking of Gen. | Burgoyne, &c. | Boston: Printed for the Author, 1779. | It is an 8vo of sixteen pages, the first poem being printed in double column. A note at the end of the volume is signed "A Friend to Liberty."
Page 176. Emancipation from British Dependence. The following explanatory note is from Duyckinck's edition of Freneau:—
"Sir James Wallace, Admiral Graves, and Captain Montague were British naval officers, employed on our coast. The Viper and Rose were vessels in the service. Lord Dunmore, the last Royal governor of Virginia, had recently, in April, 1775, removed the public stores from Williamsburg, and, in conjunction with a party of adherents, supported by the naval force on the station, was making war on the province. William Tryon, the last Royal governor of New York, discerning the signs of the times, took refuge on board the Halifax packet in the harbor, and left the city in the middle of October, 1775."
Page 177. Rodney, who was one of the Delaware delegates to the Continental Congress, had obtained leave of absence for a journey through the southern part of the state to prepare the people for a change of government. His colleagues, Thomas McKean and George Read, were divided on the question, and the former, knowing Rodney to be favorable to the declaration, sent him a message urging his return. By great exertion Rodney arrived just in time for the final discussion, and his affirmative vote secured the consent of the Delaware delegation to the declaration, and effected that unanimity among the colonies which was essential to the success of the measure.
Page 180. The American Patriot's Prayer. This poem was formerly ascribed to Thomas Paine, but recent authority has rejected this on the basis of internal evidence.
Page 183. The Maryland Battalion. At the opening of the Revolution, the young men of Baltimore organized the "Baltimore Independent Company," and elected Mordecai Gist captain. This was afterwards increased to a battalion, of which Gist was appointed major. The battalion checked the advance of Cornwallis at the battle of Long Island, and saved a portion of Stirling's command from capture. Two hundred and fifty-nine were left dead on the field.
Page 183. Grant. The British general who commanded the left wing. He had declared in the House of Commons that the Americans would not fight, and that he could march from one end of the continent to the other with five thousand men.
Page 183. Stirling. William Alexander, commonly called Lord Stirling, eldest son of James Alexander Stirling, who had fled to America upon the discovery of the Jacobite conspiracy of 1715.
Page 184. Knowlton. Thomas Knowlton, lieutenant-colonel of a regiment of rangers selected from the Connecticut troops. He was killed at the battle of Harlem Heights, as was Major Leitch, who had been sent to his aid.