Hark! he answers-wild tornadoes, Strewing yonder sea with wrecks; Wasting towns, plantations, meadows, Are the voice, with which he speaks. He, foreseeing what vexations Afric's sons should undergo, Fix'd their tyrants' habitations Where his whirlwinds answer-no. By our blood in Afric wasted, Ere our necks receiv'd the chain; By the mis'ries that we tasted, Crossing in your barks the main; By our suff'rings, since ye brought us To the man-degrading mart; All sustain❜d by patience, taught us Only by a broken heart; Deem our nation brutes no longer, Till some reason ye shall find Worthier of regard, and stronger Than the colour of our kind. Slaves of gold, whose sordid dealings Tarnish all your boasted pow'rs, Prove that you have human feelings, Ere you proudly question ours! PITY FOR POOR AFRICANS. Video meliora prohoque, Deteriora sequor - I OWN I am shock'd at the purchase of slaves, And fear those, who buy them and sell them, are knaves; What I hear of their hardships, their tortures, and groans, Is almost enough to draw pity from stones. I pity them greatly, but I must be mum, What, give up our desserts, our coffee, and tea! Besides, if we do, the French, Dutch, and Danes, Will heartily thank us, no doubt, for our pains; If we do not buy the poor creatures, they will, And tortures and groans will be multiplied still. If foreigners likewise would give up the trade, Your scruples and arguments bring to my mind A youngster at school more sedate than the rest, His comrades had plotted an orchard to rob, He was shock'd, sir, like you, and answer'd-"Oh no! What! rob our good neighbour! I pray you don't go; Besides the man's poor, his orchard's his bread, Then think of his children, for they must be fed." "You speak very fine, and you look very grave, They spoke, and Tom ponder'd-"I see they will go: Poor man! what a pity to injure him so! Poor man! I would save him his fruit if I could, But staying behind will do him no good. "If the matter depended alone upon me, His apples might hang till they dropp'd from the tree; But, since they will take them, I think I'll go too, He will lose none by me, though I get a few." His scruples thus silenc'd, Tom felt more at ease, And went with his comrades the apples to seize; He blam'd and protested, but join'd in the plan: He shar'd in the plunder, but pitied the man. |