When fair Columbia was a child, And mother Britain on her smil'd With kind regard, and strok'd her head, And gave her dolls and gingerbread, And sugar plumbs, and many a toy, Which prompted gratitude and joy-- Then a more duteous maid, I ween, Ne'er frisked it o'er the playful green; Whate'er the mother said, approv'd, And with sincere affection lov'd-- With reverence listen'd to her dreams, And bowed obsequious to her schemes-- Barter'd the products of her garden, For trinkets, worth more than a farthing-- And whensoe'er the mother sigh'd, She, sympathetic daughter, cri'd, Fearing the heavy, long-drawn breath, Betoken'd her approaching death. But when at puberty arriv'd, Forgot the power in whom she liv'd, And 'gan to make preposterous splutter, 'Bout spreading her own bread and butter, And stubbornly refus'd t' agree, In form, to drink her bohea-tea, And like a base, ungrateful daughter, Hurl'd a whole tea box in the water-- 'Bout writing paper made a pother, And dared to argue with her mother-- Contended pertly, that the nurse, Should not be keeper of the purse; But that herself, now older grown, Would have a pocket of her own, In which the purse she would deposit, As safely as in nurse's closet. FRANCIS HOPKINSON. The Whig papers generally at this time adopted for a headpiece a snake broken into parts representing the several colonies, with the motto, "Unite or Die." ON THE SNAKE DEPICTED AT THE HEAD OF SOME AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS Ye sons of Sedition, how comes it to pass That America's typ'd by a Snake--in the grass? Don't you think 'tis a scandalous, saucy reflection, That merits the soundest, severest correction? New-England's the Head, too;--New-England's abus'd, For the Head of the Serpent we know should be bruis'd. From Rivington's _New York Gazetteer_, August 25, 1774. The feeling of the entire country was aptly voiced in "Free America," which appeared at that time, and which was ascribed to Dr. Joseph Warren. FREE AMERICA [1774] That seat of Science, Athens, And earth's proud mistress, Rome; Where now are all their glories? We scarce can find a tomb. Then guard your rights, Americans, Nor stoop to lawless sway; Oppose, oppose, oppose, oppose, For North America. We led fair Freedom hither, And lo, the desert smiled! A paradise of pleasure Was opened in the wild! Your harvest, bold Americans, No power shall snatch away! Huzza, huzza, huzza, huzza, For free America. Torn from a world of tyrants, Beneath this western sky, We formed a new dominion, A land of liberty: The world shall own we're masters here; Then hasten on the day: Huzza, huzza, huzza, huzza, For free America.