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THE NEGRO BOY.
WHEN avarices enſlaves the mind,
And ſelfiſh views alone bear ſway,
Man turns a ſavage to his kind.
And blood and rapine mark his way,
Alas for this poor ſimple toy,
I ſold a blooming Negro Boy!
His father's hope, his mother's pride,
Tho' black yet comely to the view,
I tore him, helpleſs from their ſide,
And gave him to a ruffian crew!—
To fiends that Africas coaſt annoy,
I ſold the blooming Negro Boy!
From country, friends, and parents torn!
His tender limbs in chains confin'd!
I ſaw him o'er the billows borne.
And mark'd his agony of mind !
But ſtill to gain this ſimple toy,
I gave away the Negro Boy!
In ifles that deck the weſtern wave,
I doom'd the hapleſs youth to dwell
A poor forlorn, inſulted ſlave!
A beaſt that Chriſtians buy and ſell!
And in their cruel taſks employ
The much enduring Negro Boy!
