Unknown On Speculation.

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"ON SPECULATION."

'''Air.''' - Taxation of North America.

Come gentlemen and ladies all, and listen what I say.
Concerning this interruption in North America.
We once was a happy people, and a glorious nation too;
But now we are torn asunder and bursted into two.

We once did live in peace and plenty, with all the world below,
But now it is quite different, as you already know;
For Demegogs of the North, and politicians too,
Have enforced some laws upon us they had no right to do.

We told them of their evils, and they must make amends,
To those obnoxious laws, or they could not be our friends.
They only laughed at us, and said we must obey,
Any laws they choosed to make in North America.

We only asked for our rights that was garanteed to us,
We wished to be let alone, for we did not want a fuss.
They would not let us go with what we considered right,
And now they have forced upon us an awfuly bloody fight.

We are now engaged in a bloody war, with friends and kindred dear,
That has made the widow and orphans weep, and brought from them a tear;
It tells us in plain english, that we may understand,
Now is the time that every one should prove themselves a man.

This is no time to stay at home and "Speculate" you see,
While soldiers are on the battle-field, to fight for you and me:
Be careful how you "Speculate," or you may see the day,
You will have to settle with the soldiers of North America.

Although you stay at home, exempied by our laws,
From fighting for our liberty, in this our noble cause;
You have a duty to fulfill, I am shure you must obey,
Or you never will enjoy the blessings of North America.

While soldiers are on the battle-field, exposed to cold and rain,
You are staying at you homes, to raise your pork and grain;
Don't sell them at such prices, that their families cannot buy,
For you will bring distress upon them, and make their children cry.

Remember what you told them, and what to them you said,
You promised that you would keep their families in daily meat and bread;
Stand firmly to your promise, for they on you depend,
You must feed and cloth them teach them too, and then you will be their friend.
It makes no odds how you are pressed, or how much cramped you feel,
You must recollect the soldiers that is fighting in the field;
For eleven dollars per month is all they get for pay,
While fighting for our rights in North America.
Your rights are equal with them, your interest is the same,
Be careful how you "Speculate" or you will bring yourselves to shame;
You will cause them to desert, in the field they will not stay,
While you are speculating on their families in North America.
If you do not like your condition, or the duties you must do,
Go join our noble armies, and fight the battles through;
And before the war is ended, I think that you will say,
It is a shame to "Speculate" in North America.
Come now my noble soldiers, come let your valor boast,
Don't let these "Speculators" drive you from your post;
And when the war is ended, and you are returning to your farms,
Your wife will fly to meet you and clasp you in her arms.
Then she will begin to tell you, Oh! horrors to relate,
Of these haughty villains, and how they "Speculate;"
She will tell you how she suffered, while you were gone away,
A fighting for our rights in North America.
But keep your anger coolly, don't let them ever know,
That they have brought distress upon you, and your families down to woe.
And if you do not gain our freedom, I am shure you'r not to blame,
But it is the "Speculation," that will bring us all to shame.
January, 1863
A.H.