Attended, prisoners visited, the poor Receiv'd as brothers at the rich man's board. Alas! how different now the deeds of men Nurs'd in the faith of Christ!-the free made slaves! Stol'n from their country, borne across the deep, Enchain'd, endungeon'd, forc'd by stripes to live, (17) Doom'd to behold their wives, their little ones, Tremble beneath the the white man's fiend-like frown! Yet ev❜n to scenes like this, the SABBATH brings Alleviation of th' enormous woe :— The oft-reiterated stroke is still; The clotted scourge hangs hardening in the shrouds. But see, the demon man, whose trade is blood, With dauntless front, convene his ruffian crew, O ENGLAND! England! wash thy purpled hands Of this foul sin, (18) and never dip them more In guilt so damnable; then lift them up Is Mercy; then thou may'st, without the risk Of drawing vengeance from the surcharg❜d clouds, Implore protection to thy menac'd shores; Then God will blast the tyrant's arm (18 a) that grasps The thunderbolt of ruin o'er thy head; Then will he turn the wolvish race to prey Back to its source with fiery desolation. Of all the murderous trades by mortals plied, "Tis War alone that never violates The hallow'd day by simulate respect,— By hypocritic rest: No, no, the work proceeds. From sacred pinnacles are hung the flags* * Church steeples are frequently used as signal-posts. E That give the sign to slip the leash from slaughter. The bells (19) whose knoll a holy calmness pour'd Into the good man's breast,-whose sound consol'd From morn to eve Destruction revels frenzied, On corses thron'd, and crown'd with shiver'd boughs, "That erst hung imag'd in the chrystal tide.* AND what the harvest of these bloody fields? And chains on arms that wielded Freedom's sword. Maintain'd, amid surrounding threats of wealth, * After a heavy cannonade, the shivered branches of trees, and the corpses of the killed, are seen floating together down the rivers. |