V.

Then inch by inch contested they the ground,
Determined not to yield to quick defeat;
But, bravely though they fought, ere long they found
Themselves compelled to beat a slow retreat.
But, falling back before the enemy,
They lost not yet the hope of victory.

VI.

Meanwhile the enemy advanced within
Two hundred yards of where the garrison
Was quartered. Sudden ceased the battle's din,
And he who led the invading army on
Gave orders for a halt, in expectation
Of winning now the fort's capitulation.

VII.

Then, as they halted, sudden a report,
As of an earthquake, rent the trembling air,
And, midst the débris of the scattered fort,
Two hundred slain Americans lay there.
The British had retreated, but had fired
The powder-magazine as they retired.

VIII.

Th' enraged Americans accounted this
An act of baseness and of perfidy.
I know not what the law of slaughter is,
But this I know, that they can hardly be
Renowned for faith and truth to honour's code,
Whose lives are spent in butchery and blood.

IX.

The man's environment perfects the man,
And each can choose his own environment.
And each can either cause to die, or fan
To brighter life, the seed or rudiment
Of good or evil moral tendency
Acquired, or inbred by heredity.