carried the news between Philadelphia, Princeton, and
Morristown. "'The Post,' Mr. Martin," wrote Mrs. Quincy, "was an old man
who carried the mail, ... he was our constant medium of communication;
and always stopped at our house to refresh himself and horse, tell the
news, and bring packets. He used to wear a blue coat with yellow
buttons, a scarlet waistcoat, leathern small-clothes, blue yarn
stockings, and a red wig and cocked hat, which gave him a sort of
military appearance. He usually traveled in a sulky, but sometimes in a
chaise, or on horseback.... Mr. Martin also contrived to employ himself
in knitting coarse yarn stockings while driving or rather jogging along
the road, or when seated on his saddle-bags on horseback. He certainly
did not ride _post_, according to the present [1821] meaning of that
term."

Deprived like many other children of Newbery's peaceful biographies and
stories, the little Mortons' lives were too full of an intense daily
interest to feel the lack of new literature of this sort. Tales of the
campaigns told in letters to friends and neighbors were reechoed in the
ballads and songs that formed part of the literary warfare waged by Whig
or Loyal partisans. Children of to-day sing so zestfully the popular
tunes of the moment, that it requires very little imagination to picture
the schoolboy of Revolutionary days shouting lustily verses from "The
Battle of the Kegs," and other rhymed stories of military incidents.
Such a ballad was "A Song for the Red Coats," written after the
successful campaign against Burgoyne, and beginning:

"Come unto me, ye heroes,
Whose hearts are true and bold,
Who value more your honor,
Than others do their gold!
Give ear unto my story,
And I the truth will tell,
Concerning many a soldier,
Who for his country fell."

Children, it has been said, are good haters. To the patriot boy and
girl, the opportunity to execrate Benedict Arnold was found in these
lines of a patriotic "ditty" concerning the fate of Major Andre:

"When he was executed
He looked both meek and mild;
He looked upon the people,
And pleasantly he smiled.
It moved each eye to pity,
Caused every heart to bleed;
And every one wished him released--
And _Arnold_ in his stead."[98-A]

Loyalist children had an almost equal supply of satirical verse to fling
back at neighbors' families, where in country districts some farms were
still