Jonathan to John.

It don’t seem hardly right, John,
When both my hands was full,
To stump me to a fight, John,--
Your cousin, tu, John Bull!
Ole Uncle S. sez he, “I guess
We know it now,” sez he,
“The lion’s paw is all the law,
Accordin’ to J. B.,
Thet’s fit for you an’ me!”
Blood ain’t so cool as ink, John:
It’s likely you’d ha’ wrote,
An’ stopped a spell to think, John,
Arter they’d cut your throat?
Ole Uncle S. sez he, “I guess
He’d skurce ha’ stopped,” sez he,
“To mind his p’s an’ q’s ef thet weasan,
Hed b’longed to old J. B.,
Instid o’ you an’ me!”
Ef I turned mad dogs loose, John,
On your front-parlor stairs,
Would it jest meet your views, John,
To wait an’ sue their heirs?
Ole Uncle S., sez he, “I guess,
I only guess,” sez he,
“They, ef Vattell on his toes fell,
‘Twould kind o’ rile J. B.,
Ez well ez you an’ me!”
Who made the law they hurts, John,
Heads I win—ditto, tails?
“J. B.” was on his shirts, John,
Onless my memory fails.
Ole Uncle S. sez he, “I guess,
(I’m good at thet,) sez he,
“Thet sauce for goose ain’t jest the juice
For ganders with J. B.,
No more than you or me!”
When your rights was our wrong, John,
You didn’t stop for fuss,--
Britanny’s trident-prongs, John,
Was good ‘nough law for us.
Old Uncle S., sez he, “I guess,
Though physic’s good, “sez he,
“It doesn’t foller that he can swaller
Prescriptions signed J. B.”
Put up by you an’ me!”
We own the ocean, tu, John,
You mus’n’t take it hard,
Ef we can’t think with you, John,
It’s jest your own back-yard.
Ole Uncle S. sez he, “I guess,
Ef thet’s his claim,” sez he,
“The fencin’-stuff’ll cost enough
To bust up friend J. B.,
Ez wal ez you an’ me!”
Why talk so dreffle big, John,
Of honor, when it meant
You did n’t care a fig, John,
But jest for ten per cent?
Ole Uncle S. sez he, “I guess,
He’s like the rest,” sez he:
“When all is done, it’s number one
Thet’s nearest to J. B.,
Ez wal ez you an’ me!”
We give the critters back, John,
Coz Abram thought ‘twas right;
It warn’t your bullyin’ clack, John,
Provokin’ us to fight.
Ole Uncle S. sez he, “I guess
We’ve a hard row,” sez he,
“To hoe just now; but thet, somehow,
May happen to J. B.,
Ez wal ez you an’ me!”
We ain’t so weak an’ poor, John,
With twenty million people,
An’ close to every door, John,
A school-house an’ a steeple.
Ole Uncle S. sez he, “I guess
It is a fact,” sez he,
“The surest plan to make a Man
Is, Think him so, J. B.,
Ez much ez you or me!”
Our folks believe in Law, John;
An’ it’s for her sake, now,
They’ve left the axe an’ saw, John,
The anvil an’ the plough.
Ole Uncle S. sez he, “I guess,
Ef ‘t warn’t for law,” sez he,
“There’d be one shindy from here to Indy;
An’ they don’t suit J. B.
(When ‘tain’t ‘twixt you an’ me!”)
We know we’ve gut a cause, John,
Thet’s honest, just an’ true;
We thought ‘twould win applause, John,
Ef nowhere else, from you.
Ole Uncle S., sez he, “I guess
His love of right,” sez he,
“Hangs by a rotten fibre o’ cotton;
There’s natur’ in J. B.,
Ez wal ez you an’ me!”
The south says, “Poor folks down!”, John,
An’ “All men up!” say we---
White, yaller, black, an’ brown, John;
Now which is your idee?
Ole Uncle S., sez he, “I guess
John preaches wal,” sez he;
“But, sermon thru, an’ come to du,
Why, there’s the old J. B.,
A-crowdin’ you an’ me!”
Shall it be love or hate, John?
It’s you thet’s to decide;
Aint your bonds held by Fate, John,
Like all the world’s beside?
Ole Uncle S., sez he “I guess
Wise men forgive,” sez he,
“But not forget; an’ some time yet
That truth may strike J. B.,
Ez wal ez you an’ me!”
God means to make this land, John,
Clear thru, from sea to sea,
Believe an’ understand, John,
The wuth o’ bein’ free.
Ole Uncle S., sez he, “I guess
God’s price is high,” sez he;
“But nothin’ else than wut He sells
Wears long, an’ thet J. B.
May learn like you an’ me!”

Title:Jonathan to John.

Author:Unknown

Publication:The Barre Gazette

Published in:Barre

Date:February 7th 1862

Keywords:,

Commentary

This poem in the Yankee dialect, published in the Union-sympathising Barre Gazette, is a truncated reprint of a larger composition by the American Poet James Russel Lowell, first published in the Atlantic Monthly (under the assumed personae voice of Hosea Biglow). The omitted introductory stanzas to this poem imagine a conversation between two patriotic landmarks, the Concord Bridge and the Bunker Hill Monument, both debating the Union’s response to the Trent Affair, and situating the event within an idealised narrative of American democratic character. (https://www.bartleby.com/371/394.html) The stanzas printed in The Barre Gazette offer an address to John Bull, from two caricatures of the Union personae, Brother Jonathan and Uncle Sam. The poem was written after the Trent Affair had threatened conflict between the Union and Britain, and the poetic voices express an indignation towards the British response, as Brother Jonathan and Uncle Sam lambast the hypocrisy of the imperialistic John Bull. In November 1861, the Union naval captain, Charles Wilkes, had intercepted the British mail ship, RMS Trent, and removed the two Confederate diplomats on board, James Murray Mason and John Sliddell. Britain was outraged by this alleged transgression of International Law, and Lincoln was later forced to acknowledge this fact, disavowing the actions of Charles Wilkes, and releasing the Confederate diplomats. The poem, however, takes a more aggressive tone in its refusal to bow to the pressures of an interfering John Bull: ‘We give the critters back, John, | Coz Abram thought ‘twas right; | It warn’t your bullyin’ clack, John, | Provokin’ us to fight’. As Brother Jonathan boldly declares in the closing stanzas of the poem, the Union cause and democratic vision is left unshaken by this threat of British involvement: ‘God means to make this land, John, | Clear thru, from sea to sea, | Believe an’ understand, John, | The wuth o’ bein’ free.’ The poet, James Russell Lowell, was a staunch supporter of the Union and Abraham Lincoln’s cause. Between 1857 and 1861, he had served as the editor of the Atlantic Monthly, and under his steer, it had become one of the first important American periodicals to take a decided stand against slavery. (Wortham, Thomas, “Lowell, James Russel” in American National Biography, (Online, February 2000)). JC