"Back side Albany stan' lake Champlain, One little pond, haf full a' water Plat-te-bug dare too, close pon de main, Town small--he grow bigger do herearter. On lake Champlain, Uncle Sam set he boat, And Massa M'Donough, he sail 'em; While Gen'ral M'Comb Make Plat-te-bug he home, Wid de army, who courage nebber fail 'em."[67] At this point, let us pause a moment and review the evidence--evidence which thus far has been drawn wholly from the newspapers. The term Uncle Sam is first found in September, 1813, or when the war was half over, though even then it was alleged to have "got almost as current as 'John Bull.'"[68] While this statement may be true as regards the neighborhood of Greenbush,[69] at which place the camp was a rendezvous for the soldiers, it is not true of the country as a whole.[70] The term first appeared in papers published in cities or towns either in New York--as Troy, Lansingburgh, and Herkimer; or in Vermont--as Burlington and Windsor, In short, it arose exactly where one would expect it to arise--either in the neighborhood of Greenbush or along the Canadian frontiers where the fighting was done. Finally, there is one singular feature of the evidence. Every instance of Uncle Sam thus far given, except that in the "Siege of Plattsburg," is taken from a peace paper, while not once does the term occur in a war paper. It is not easy to see why the war papers should have avoided the term, and the fact that they did would seem to indicate that it was employed somewhat derisively by the peace men. Possibly the sobriquet was regarded as merely lacking in dignity. Or it may be, feeling running so high, that the mere fact of its being taken up by one party was sufficient to condemn it in the eyes of the other. But whatever the reason, the fact is striking, and is comparable to the avoidance of the word Yankee by the New Englanders previous to the battle of Lexington. Does not an absolute boycott point at least to a distaste? It should also be noted that by "Uncle Sam's men" were meant, at first, not soldiers but United States custom house officers. Thus far, however, the term has been merely a colloquialism, found only in the newspapers. Let us now follow its progress in the literary language. Its first appearance in a book was in a political skit published in 1816, and written partly in Biblical phrase. Whose identity was concealed under the pseudonym of Frederick Augustus Fidfaddy, the alleged author of The Adventures of Uncle Sam, I do not know. The book itself,[71] like James K. Paulding's Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan (published in 1812) and all similar skits, is modelled on Arbuthnot's Law is a Bottomless Pit--usually called the History of John Bull--published in 1712. In it we find not merely Uncle Sam, but Sam, Samuel, Samuelite, Uncle Samuel, and Uncle Samuel's Lady--meaning Congress. A few extracts follow: