Extreme Humanity

Made dreadful slaughter in his course,
O'erthrew provincials, foot and horse;
Thus Gage's arms did fortune bless
Brought armies o'er by sudden pressings
With triumph, safety, and success:
But mercy is without dispute
Of Hanoverians, Swiss, and Hessians;
His first and darling attribute;
So great, it far outwent, and conquer'd,
heroes, was but half accomplished. The Hanoverians, &c,
His military skill at Concord.
indeed came over, and much were they feasted with
There, when the war he chose to wage,
blood; but the hanging of the rebels and the dividing
Shone the benevolence of Gage;
their estates remain unfulfilled. This, however, cannot
be the fault of the hero, but rather the British minister,
who left off the war before the work was completed.
Sent troops to that ill-omen'd place
On errands mere of special grace,
And all the work he chose them for
Was to prevent a civil war;
And for that purpose he projected
The only certain way to effect it,
To take your powder, stores, and arms,
And all your means of doing harms:
As prudent folks take knives away,
Lest children cut themselves at play.
And yet, though this was all his scheme,
This war you still will charge on him;
And though he oft has swore and said it,
Stick close to facts, and give no credit,
Think you, he wish'd you 'd brave and beard him'?
Why, 'twas the very thing that scared him.
He 'd rather you should all have run,
Than stay'd to fire a single gun.
And for the civil law you lament,
Faith, you yourselves must take the blame in't;
For had you then, as he intended,
Given up your arms, it must have ended;
Since that's no war, each mortal knows,
Where one side only gives the blows,
And the other bear 'em; on reflection
The most you'll call it, is correction.
Nor could the contest have gone higher,
If you had ne'er return'd the fire;
But when you shot and not before,
It then commenced a civil war.
Else Gage, to end this controversy,
Had but corrected you in mercy:
Whom mother Britain, old and wise,
Sent o'er the colonies to chastise;
Command obedience on their peril
Of ministerial whip and ferule,
And, since they ne'er must come of age,
Govern'd and tutor'd them by Gage.
Still more, that this was all their errand,
The army's conduct makes apparent.
What though at Lexington you can say
They kill'd a few they did not fancy,
At Concord then, with manful popping,
Discharg'd a round, the ball to open —
Yet, when they saw your rebel-rout
Determined still to hold it out;
Did they not show their love to peace,
And wish that discord straight might cease,
Demonstrate, and by proofs uncommon,
Their orders were to injure no man '.'
For did not every regular run
As soon as e'er you fired a gun?
Take the first shot you sent them greeting,
As meant their signal for retreating;
And fearful, if they stay'd for sport,
You might by accident be hurt,
Convey themselves with speed away
Full twenty miles in half a day;
Race till their legs were grown so weary,
They 'd scarce suffice their weight to carry?
Whence Gage extols, from general hearsay,
The great activity of Lord Percy,
Whose brave example led them on,
And spirited the troops to run;
And now may boast, at royal levees,
A Yankee chace worth forty Chea-ys.
Yet you, as vile as they were kind,
Pursued, like tigers, still behind;
Fired on them at your will, and shut
The town, as though you 'd starve them out;
And with parade preposterous hedged,
Affect to hold him there besieged.