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LIBERTY AND PEACE, A POEM.
BY PHILLIS PETERS.
BOSTON: PRINTED BY WARDEN AND RUSSELL, AT THEIR OFFICE IN MARLBOROUGH-STREET. M, DCC, LXXXIV.
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LIBERTY and PEACE.
LO! Freedom comes. Th' prescient Muse foretold,
All Eyes th' accomplish'd Prophecy behold:
Her Port describ'd, "
She moves divinely fair,
"Olive and Laurel bind her golden Hair."
She, the bright Progeny of Heaven, descends,
And every Grace her sovereign Step attends;
For now kind Heaven, indulgent to our Prayer,
In smiling
Peace resolves the Din of
War.
Fix'd in
Columbia her illustrious Line,
And bids in thee her future Councils shine.
To every Realm her Portals open'd wide,
Receives from each the full commercial Tide▪
Each Art and Science now with rising Charms,
Th' expanding Heart with Emulation warms.
[Page 3]E'en great
Britannia sees with dread Surprize,
And from the dazzl'ing Splendors turns her Eyes!
Britain, whose Navies swept th'
Atlantic o'er,
And Thunder sent to every distant Shore:
E'en thou, in Manners cruel as thou art,
The Sword resign'd, resume the friendly Part!
For
Galia's Power espous'd
Columbia's Cause,
And new-born
Rome shall give
Britannia Law,
Nor unremember'd in the grateful Strain,
Shall princely
Louis' friendly Deeds remain;
The generous Prince th' impending Vengeance eye's,
Sees the fierce Wrong, and to the rescue flies.
Perish that Thirst of boundless Power, that drew
On
Albion's Head the Curse to Tyrants due.
But thou appeas'd submit to Heaven's decree,
That bids this Realm of Freedom rival thee!
Now sheathe the Sword that bade the Brave attone
With guiltless Blood for Madness not their own.
Sent from th' Enjoyment of their native Shore
Ill-fated—never to behold her more!
From every Kingdom on
Europa's Coast
Throng'd various Troops, their Glory, Strength and Boast.
With heart-felt pity fair
Hibernia saw
Columbia menac'd by the Tyrant's Law:
On hostile Fields fraternal Arms engage,
And mutual Deaths, all dealt with mutual Rage;
The Muse's Ear hears mother Earth deplore
[Page 4]Her ample Surface smoak with kindred Gore:
The hostile Field destroys the social Ties,
And ever-lasting Slumber seals their Eyes.
Columbia mourns, the haughty Foes deride,
Her Treasures plunder'd, and her Towns destroy'd:
Witness how
Charlestown's curling Smoaks arise,
In sable Columns to the clouded Skies!
The ample Dome, high-wrought with curious Toil,
In one sad Hour the savage Troops despoil.
Descending
Peace the Power of War confounds;
From every Tongue coelestial
Peace resounds:
As from the East th' illustrious King of Day,
With rising Radiance drives the Shades away,
So Freedom comes array'd with Charms divine,
And in her Train Commerce and Plenty shine.
Britannia owns her Independent Reign,
Hibernia, Scotia, and the Realms of
Spain;
And great
Germania's ample Coast admires
The generous Spirit that
Columbia fires.
Auspicious Heaven shall fill with fav'ring Gales,
Where e'er
Columbia spreads her swelling Sails:
To every Realm shall
Peace her Charms display,
And Heavenly
Freedom spread her golden Ray.