At last they reach’d the water, At last, row’d o’er the tide; None heard their oars upon the shores, Or boats by which they hied. They pass’d the English frigates, They heard their sentries’ feet, They heard, “All’s well!” call’d out to tell How fool’d had been the fleet.[9] And then their stroke was bolder: For Warwick Point[17] they bore. A coach and pair were there to bear Their captive far from shore. Here[17] Prescott broke the silence: “Your push was boldly plann’d.” Said Barton: “Yes, and with success”; And took the reins in hand. Success it was for Newport. The foe knew all it meant; They lock’d no more a prison door Against our innocent. Success it was for Barton. In days like those of old No envy rife, nor party strife, Would slur a deed so bold. Through all our homes in Newport, Through all our camps afar, Men praised his name, and hoped he came As victory’s morning star. Where Freedom’s day was dawning, The man, whose light so shone To bless the land, appear’d more grand Because he rose alone. Erelong, a grateful Congress Chose one that for him brought A sword on which inscriptions rich Recorded all they thought.[18] In green Vermont they gave him A generous land-grant too.[18] A part of what we all had got By fighting, seem’d his due. But what by far was fittest, And cheer’d in every tent, Were words that raised this man we praised To lead our regiment.[19] Where few and frail the forces Our land could call its own, All felt that he would steadfast be, And fight, though left alone. FOOTNOTES [1] “Brig.-Gen. Prescott ... had been nurtured in the lap of aristocracy, and taught all its exclusive precepts.... He was a tyrant at heart, and, having the opportunity, he exercised a tyrant’s plentiful prerogatives.”—_Lossing’s Pict. Field Bk. of the Rev._, vol. ii., p. 74. “William Barton was a native of Providence, Rhode Island.... Lieutenant-Colonel in the militia of his State ... when he planned and executed the expedition for the abduction of General Prescott,” who commanded the British forces at Newport, Rhode Island.—_Idem_, p. 75. _Note._ [2] “Prescott ... had a fine sidewalk made for his accommodation along Pelham and up Spring streets; for which purpose, he took the door steps.”—_Idem_, p. 75. _Note._ [3] “His habit, while walking the streets, if he saw any of the inhabitants conversing together, was to shake his cane at them, and say: ‘Disperse ye rebels.’ He was also in the habit, when he met citizens in the streets, of commanding them to take off their hats, and, unless the order was instantly complied with, it was enforced by a rap of his cane.”—_Idem_, p. 74.