About the author
Frank Moore was a journalist and Revolutionary historian. He published a number of books on the American Revolution during his career in the mid-19th century, including Songs and Ballads of the American Revolution, Diary of the American Revolution and The Patriot Preachers of the American Revolution.
This “address to the vile traitor” was published in the Pennsylvania Packet, October 24th, 1780.
To the Traitor Arnold
ARNOLD ! thy name, as heretofore,
Shall now be Benedict no more;
Since, instigated by the devil,
Thy ways are turn’d from good to evil.
‘Tis fit we brand thee with a name,
To suit thy infamy and shame;
And since of treason thou’rt convicted,
Thy name should now be maledicted.
Unless by way of contradiction,
We style thee Britain’s Benediction;
Such blessings she, with liberal hand,
Confers on this devoted land.
For instance, only let us mention,
Some proofs of her benign intention;
The slaves she sends us o’er the deep,
The bribes to cut our throats in sleep.
To take our lives and scalps away,
The savage Indians keeps in pay,
And Tories worse, by half, than they.
Then in this class of Britain’s heroes,
The Tories, savage Indians, Negroes,
Recorded, Arnold’s name shall stand,
While Freedom’s blessings crown our land.
And odious for the blackest crimes,
Arnold shall stink to latest times.
