Dragg'd without mercy from her husband's

breast,

And the sweet babes they mutually caress'd,
Carried like cattle;-(Let it not be told!)
By christians too, to be to christians sold?
Their lineage prov'd-it were of no avail;
Here all attempts at palliation fail.
In Joseph's case we may a parallel see;
Sent into Egypt by divine decree,

His brethren's evil, God intends for good,
Yet they, as guilty, in his presence stood.
Some plead the precedent of former times,
And bring example in, to sanction crimes:
Greece had her Helots, Gibeonites the Jew;
Must then Columbia have her Negroes too!
By men who by his spirit were inspir'd,

To teach us what our blessed Lord requir'd,
Rules have been given to regulate our lives,
As subjects, husbands, parents, children, wives :
Masters and servants due directions have;
But show a single lesson to a slave.

Those heavenly doctrines have a liberal aim,
And practis'd, soon would abrogate the name.

Our blessed Lord descended to unbind

Those chains of darkness which enslave the mind;
He draws the veil of prejudice aside,

To cure us of our selfishness and pride :
These once remov'd, then Afric's sable race
No more among the brutal herd we place:
Are they not blest with intellectual powers,
Which prove their souls are excellent as ours?
The same immortal hopes to all are given,
One common Saviour and one common heaven.
When these exalted views th' ascendant gain,
Fraternal love will form a silken chain,
Whose band, encircling all the human race,
Will join the species in one large embrace.

N

LUCINDA.

THROUGH shady groves, and flow'ry greens, By purling brooks-sweet sylvan scenes, Lucinda bends her way;

Her mind still lovelier than her face;

There's none so fair as she.

Softness and truth together join,
They in her conduct sweetly shine,
In all her ways they're seen.

The VIRTUES all this maid befriend;
Where e'er she goes they all attend,
In an engaging train.

First gentle PITY leads the way;
With feeling heart, and glist'ning eye,

She views the world around;

Objects of mis'ry strike the sight;
Then CHARITY, her daughter bright
Makes blessings to abound.

BENEV'LENCE with extensive heart

Views the whole world, and in each part
Doth a kind interest take;

Both black and white do love enjoy;
Shall differing colours love destroy,
Or vain distinctions make?

A gen'rous horror fills her mind,
To see man trading in his kind;
That stain to all the race;
Each manly feeling in the slave,
Buried in hard oppression's grave;
The master still more base.

Next MODESTY, quite free from art,
Doth an unrivall'd bloom impart,
And every look direct:

She has her centre in the mind,
With ease and dignity combin'd,
And must inspire respect.

HUMILITY doth sweetly shine;
She's unassuming and benign;
She dwells with Lucy too;
Of all the virtues none more fair,
Of all the virtues none so rare ;

Next, RESIGNATION-happy breast,
The tenement of such a guest,
Religion's darling child:

'Tis thine to soften human woes;

From thee a healing balsam flows,
As potent as 'tis mild.

At last fair PIETY appears;

A robe of spotless white she wears,
And regulates the heart;

She takes her station in the breast,
And wisely governs all the rest,
Appointing each her part.

MILA.

MISTAKEN youth, in charity forbear;
And do not tell young Mila she is fair:
An altar to her vanity you raise,

And blast her beauty with the breath of praise;

For be assur'd, she's little more at best

Than a dull sod in splendid posies drest.

Did you e'er see that lily hand convey

A kind relief to helpless poverty ?

Did you e'er see those brilliant eyes express A soft concern for virtue in distress?