THE TOWN MEETING [manuscript caption title]

[Stansbury, Joseph]

Published by [N.p., but possibly New York, 1779

About this Item

[3]pp. Folio, on a folded sheet. Old fold lines. Some separation at vertical fold, old folds on final leaf neatly repaired with later paper. Docketed on verso. Light foxing and wear. About very good. A contemporary manuscript copy, in an unknown hand, of Stansbury's "The Town Meeting," a Loyalist screed in twenty-seven verses. This clever but bitter poem was first published at New York in Rivington's ROYAL GAZETTE, No. 286, June 26, 1779 under the title, "An Historical Ballad of the Proceedings at Philadelphia, 24th and 25th May, 1779, by a Loyalist who happened to pass through the City at that Time, on his way from the Southward to New York." Stansbury's opening shot across the bow calls into question the character of the Continental officers: "But when, on closer look, I spied / The Speaker march with gallant stride, / I knew myself mistaken; / For he, on Trenton's well- fought day / To Burlington mistook his way / And fairly saved his bacon. / With him a number more appeared, / Whose names their Corp'rals never heard / To muster-rolls a stranger: / To save their fines they took the Gun / Determined with the rest to run / On any glimpse of danger." In the second canto he writes of looting Tory property: "The Mob tumultuous instant seize / With venom'd rage on whom they please / The People cannot err; / Can it be wrong in Freedom's Cause / To tread down Justice, Order, Laws, / When all the Mob concur." He later takes particular jabs at James Bayard, Joseph Reed, and Benjamin Rush, among others. Joseph Stansbury (1750-1809) was an importing merchant who was born in England and moved to Philadelphia and then New York. A devoted Loyalist, Stansbury and his good friend, Jonathan Odell, together wrote satiric political verse in support of the Crown. His verses were later edited by Winthrop Sargent under the title, STANSBURY'S AND ODELL'S LOYAL VERSES (Albany, 1860). Notably, Stansbury and Odell acted as intermediaries between Benedict Arnold and General Henry Clinton when Arnold decided to defect to the British. Stansbury, in fact, served as courier for Benedict Arnold's first written overture to Clinton. A manuscript copy such as this may have been circulated amongst friends. An interesting piece of contemporary Loyalist literature. Seller Inventory # WRCAM47688

Bibliographic Details

Title: THE TOWN MEETING [manuscript caption title]

Publisher: [N.p., but possibly New York

Publication Date: 1779