William Watson Quotes
She is not old, she is not young, The Woman with the Serpent's Tongue. The haggard cheek, the hungering eye, The poisoned words that wildly fly, The famished face, the fevered hand, Who slights the worthiest in the land, Sneers at the just, contemns the brave, And blackens goodness in its grave.
Watson, William. "The Woman with the Serpent's Tongue." New Poems. John Lane, 1909, p. 43.
This law, passed by the President John Adams and the Federalists, became the political factor around which Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and others were to create the Democratic Republicans who not only ousted the Federalists but beat them so badly that the party disappeared and the Whig Party evolved. Under this law a person who criticized any facet of the Government publicly could be fined and imprisoned. The Act was unconstitutional but at that early stage of America, there were no Supreme Court precedents to go by and the power of the courts to nullify a law of Congress was not even clear. So it was never tested in the courts but finally was repealed.
Sir William Watson was an English poet, popular in his time for the celebratory content, and famous for the controversial political content, of his verse. Initially popularly recognised, he was then neglected because of changing tastes.
