Humanity, or the rights of nature, a poem in two books. By the author of sympathy [i.e. S. J. Pratt] |
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| I. |
| II. |
 | Humanity, or the rights of nature, a poem |  |
But Heav'n is just, each tyrant in his turn
Is taught the rashness of his pride to mourn,
Oft spreads his tortur'd Slave the secret snare,
And hurls his Master in the last despair,
Far from his couch the balmy slumber flies,
And from his slave unnumber'd poisons rise,
He knows to pest the herd, to blast the soil,
Perish the blossom, and the harvest spoil;
To mix the baneful juice, the fatal flower,
This sudden kills, that boasts a mining power,
He knows to scatter unsuspected fate,
While circling mischiefs on his vengeance wait,
At length he makes the Tyrant's self his prey,
And rushes on him in the face of day,
Or desperate, seizes on the child and wife,
Mad with his wrongs, and takes their forfeit life,
That thus the White man's progeny may groan,
The Tyrant's lot to balance with his own;
Oft from the cradle and the breast will tear,
Ev'n his own babes in phrenzy of despair,
With mingled rage and fondness stop their breath,
And give them freedom in the arms of death.
Is taught the rashness of his pride to mourn,
Oft spreads his tortur'd Slave the secret snare,
And hurls his Master in the last despair,
Far from his couch the balmy slumber flies,
And from his slave unnumber'd poisons rise,
He knows to pest the herd, to blast the soil,
Perish the blossom, and the harvest spoil;
To mix the baneful juice, the fatal flower,
This sudden kills, that boasts a mining power,
He knows to scatter unsuspected fate,
While circling mischiefs on his vengeance wait,
At length he makes the Tyrant's self his prey,
And rushes on him in the face of day,
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Mad with his wrongs, and takes their forfeit life,
That thus the White man's progeny may groan,
The Tyrant's lot to balance with his own;
Oft from the cradle and the breast will tear,
Ev'n his own babes in phrenzy of despair,
With mingled rage and fondness stop their breath,
And give them freedom in the arms of death.
| Humanity, or the rights of nature, a poem | |