In New York state, rejoin'd by Clinton,
Should their standards mock the air,
Many a surgeon shall put lint on
Wounds of death receivèd there.
War, fierce war, shall break their forces,
Nerves of Tory men shall fail,
Seeing Howe, with alter'd courses,
Bending to the western gale.
Thus from every bay of ocean,
Flying back with sails unfurl'd,
Tossed with ever-troubled motion,
They shall quit this smiling world.
Like Satan banishèd from heaven,
Never see the smiling shore;
From this land, so happy, driven,
Never stain its bosom more.
CHAPTER IV
INDEPENDENCE
At the outbreak of the Revolution very few, even of the more radical colonial leaders, thought of or desired complete independence from Great Britain. Samuel Adams was perhaps the first to proclaim this as the only solution of the problem which confronted the colonies. But the sentiment for independence grew steadily.
[EMANCIPATION FROM BRITISH DEPENDENCE]
[1775]