=Tories Assail the Patriots.=—­The Tories who remained in America joined the British army by the thousands or in other ways aided the royal cause.  Those who were skillful with the pen assailed the patriots in editorials, rhymes, satires, and political catechisms.  They declared that the members of Congress were “obscure, pettifogging attorneys, bankrupt shopkeepers, outlawed smugglers, etc.”  The people and their leaders they characterized as “wretched banditti ... the refuse and dregs of mankind.”  The generals in the army they sneered at as “men of rank and honor nearly on a par with those of the Congress.”

=Patriot Writers Arouse the National Spirit.=—­Stung by Tory taunts, patriot writers devoted themselves to creating and sustaining a public opinion favorable to the American cause.  Moreover, they had to combat the depression that grew out of the misfortunes in the early days of the war.  A terrible disaster befell Generals Arnold and Montgomery in the winter of 1775 as they attempted to bring Canada into the revolution—­a disaster that cost 5000 men; repeated calamities harassed Washington in 1776 as he was defeated on Long Island, driven out of New York City, and beaten at Harlem Heights and White Plains.  These reverses were almost too great for the stoutest patriots.

Pamphleteers, preachers, and publicists rose, however, to meet the needs of the hour.  John Witherspoon, provost of the College of New Jersey, forsook the classroom for the field of political controversy.  The poet, Philip Freneau, flung taunts of cowardice at the Tories and celebrated the spirit of liberty in many a stirring poem.  Songs, ballads, plays, and satires flowed from the press in an unending stream.  Fast days, battle anniversaries, celebrations of important steps taken by Congress afforded to patriotic clergymen abundant opportunities for sermons.  “Does Mr. Wiberd preach against oppression?” anxiously inquired John Adams in a letter to his wife.  The answer was decisive.  “The clergy of every denomination, not excepting the Episcopalian, thunder and lighten every Sabbath.  They pray for Boston and Massachusetts.  They thank God most explicitly and fervently for our remarkable successes.  They pray for the American army.”

Thomas Paine never let his pen rest.  He had been with the forces of Washington when they retreated from Fort Lee and were harried from New Jersey into Pennsylvania.  He knew the effect of such reverses on the army as well as on the public.  In December, 1776, he made a second great appeal to his countrymen in his pamphlet, “The Crisis,” the first part of which he had written while defeat and gloom were all about him.  This tract was a cry for continued support of the Revolution.  “These are the times that try men’s souls,” he opened.  “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of men and women.”