Hymns and Odes for Temperance Occasions X

Says Jonathan, says he, "To-day I will be independent, And so my grog I'll throw away, And that shall be the end on't. Clear the house! the 'tarnal stuff Shan't be here so handy; Wife has given the winds her snuff, So now here goes my brandy! Chorus. Clear the house, &c. "Our fathers, though a sturdy folk, Were sometimes rayther skittish; And so they wouldn't wear the yoke Brought over by the British. Yonder, on old Bunker's head, From their necks they shook it; There they fired off all their lead, And then they had to hook it. Chorus. Yonder, on, &c. "But though they fit and run away, They warn't a bit o' cowards; They lived to fight another day, When lookin' Gin'ral Howe-wards. What could then the Gin'ral do For his own salvation? Why, he 'cussed and quit' the u- nivarsal Yankee nation. Chorus. What could then, &c. "The tyrant that our fathers smoked Lay skulkin' in a tea-pot; There's now 'a worser' to be choked, In bottle, jug, or wee pot; Often in a glass he shows What he calls his 'body'; And often wades, up to his nose, In a bowl of toddy. Chorus. Often in a glass, &c. "Sometimes he creeps up, through the slim Stem of a very fine pipe; And sometimes plunges, for a swim, All over in a wine-pipe; But, he's tickled, most of all, When he hears the summons Down his favorite pipes to crawl,-- The wind-pipes of the rum-uns. Chorus. But, he's tickled, &c. "And when he gets the upper hand,-- This tyrant, base and scurvy,-- He strips a man of house and land, And turns him topsy-turvy. Neck and heels he binds him fast, And says that he is his'n; But lets him have, rent free, at last, A poor-house or a prison. Chorus. Neck and heels, &c. "And now," says Jonathan, "towards Rum I'm desperate unforgivin'; The tyrant, never more, shall come Into 'the house I live in.' Kindred spirits, too, shall in- to outer darkness go forth; Whisky, Toddy, Julep, Gin, Brandy, Beer, and so forth. Chorus. Kindred spirits, &c. "While this COLD WATER fills my cup, Duns dare not assail me; Sheriffs shall not lock me up, Nor my neighbours bail me; Lawyers will I never let 'Choose me as defendant'; Till to death I pay my debt, I will be independent." Chorus. Lawyers will I never let, &c.