XV.
Yes, this reproach is added; (infamous
In realms which own a Christian monarch's sway!)
Not suffering only is their portion, thus
Compelled to toil their youthful lives away:
Excessive labor works the Soul's decay—
Quenches the intellectual light within—
Crushes with iron weight the mind's free play—
Steals from us leisure purer thoughts to win—
And leaves us sunk and lost in dull and native sin.
XVI.
Yet in the British Senate men rise up
(The freeborn and the fathers of our land!)
And while these drink the dregs of Sorrow's cup,
Deny the sufferings of the pining band.
With nice-drawn calculations at command,
They prove—rebut—explain—and reason long;
Proud of each shallow argument they stand,
And prostitute their utmost powers of tongue
Feebly to justify this great and glaring wrong.
XVII.
So rose, with such a plausible defence
Of the unalienable right of Gain,
Those who against Truth's brightest eloquence
Upheld the cause of torture and of pain:
And fear of Property's Decrease made vain,
For years, the hope of Christian Charity
To lift the curse from Slavery's dark domain,
And send across the wide Atlantic sea
The watchword of brave men—the thrilling shout, "Be Free!"
