Note 398 — PART THE SECOND. (continued 9)
Reading edition
For the gratification of those who are not in possession of this poem, we insert the following extract:—
"Whene'er to Afric's shores I turn my eyes, Horrors of deepest, deadliest guilt arise; I see by more than Fancy's mirror shown, The burning village and the blazing town: See the dire victim torn from social life, The shrieking babe, the agonizing wife; . . . By felon hands, by one relentless stroke, See the fond links of feeling nature broke! The fibres twisting round a parent's heart Torn from their grasp, and bleeding as they part."
We add one more passage, as it contains an animated appeal against the injustice of this nefarious traffic.
"What wrongs, what injuries does Oppression plead, To smooth the crime, and sanctify the deed? What strange offence, what aggravated sin? They stand convicted—of a darker skin! Barbarians, hold! the opprobrious commerce spare, Respect His sacred image which they bear. Though dark and savage, ignorant and blind, They claim the common privilege of kind; Let malice strip them of each other plea, They still are men, and men should still be free."
See Mrs. More's Poem, entitled The Slave Trade.