Page:American History Told by Contemporaries, v2.djvu/543

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
No. 183]
"Lords of the Main"
515

With ardour like your's we defy France and Spain !
Combining with Treason
They're deaf to all reason :
Once more let them feel we are Lords of the Main.
Lords of the Main — ay, Lords of the Main —
The first-born of Neptune are Lords of the Main.


Nor are we alone in the noble career ;
The Soldier partakes of the generous flame :
To glory he marches, to glory we steer ;
Between us we share the rich harvest of fame.
Recorded on high,
Their names never die,
Of heroes by sea and by land what a train !
To the King, then, God bless him !
The World shall confess him
'The Lord of those men who are Lords of the Main.'
Lords of the Main — ay, Lords of the Main —
The Tars of Old England are Lords of the Main.

LIBERTY.

[Joseph Stansbury], The Lords of the Main, published in Rivington's Royal Gazette, Feb. 16, 1780; reprinted in The Loyal Verses of Joseph Stansbury and Doctor Jonathan Odell (edited by Winthrop Sargent, Albany, 1860). 61-62.

183. The Experiences of a British Spy (1780)
BY MAJOR JOHN ANDRÉ

The André episode is one of the most painful in the whole war. André, a British officer of high character and standing, was persuaded to meet Benedict Arnold in disguise. Washington justly held him to be a spy, and he suffered the penalty of death. — Bibliography : Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VI, 447-468; Isaac N. Arnold, Life of Benedict Arnold; Channing and Hart, Guide, § 138.

A. MAJOR ANDRÉ TO GENERAL WASHINGTON

Salem, 24 September, 1780.

Sir,

WHAT I have as yet said concerning myself was in the justifiable attempt to be extricated ; I am too little accustomed to duplicity to have succeeded.