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Leeds Anti-Slavery Series.  No. 66.

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VOICES FROM SLAVERY,

Written on Reading a Paper by Joseph Sturge on the

Aggravated Horrors of the Slave-Trade — Oct., 1848.

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            I. — Capture and Embarkation.

Hark! to the cry from Afric’s shore,

The mingled sound of strife and battle;

            The prisoners come,

            Behold their doom;

A wretched drove of human cattle!                                      [5]

Sold for a draught of liquid fire!

Bartered for toys, that hapless band!

            Oh, who can know

            The depth of woe

That fills each heart along the strand?                                     [10]

Now packed like bales of senseless ware,

Within the vessel’s murky hold;

            Close, closer still —

            They cram, they fill —

Oh guilt enormous!  crimes untold!                                         [15]

            II. — Miseries at Sea.

Hark!  to the sound that comes from afar,

Borne o’er the waves in utterance low;

            Deep stifled moans,

            And dying groans:

That living freight of human woe!                                             [20]

Sold by W. and F.G. Cash, 5 Bishopgate Street, London; and by Jane Jowett,

Friends’ Meeting Yard, Leeds, at 1s. 2d. per 100.

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Now the full vessel courts the wind,

O’er swelling seas they swiftly go;

            And fever burns,

            And pity spurns

The palpitating mass below!                                                      [25]

But death in mercy thins the ranks;

Pulse after pulse forgets to beat —

            They gasp, they die

            In agony —

In quenchless thirst, and maddening heat!                                  [30]

            III. — Landing in the West Indies.

Hark!  to the plaint from yonder shore,

A voice of woe, and helpless wailing —

            They land, they land

            On foreign strand,

Gaunt, trembling forms, in weakness failing!                               [35]

And now a transient dream of rest,

Ere to the human shambles driven;

            They feed them well,

            To make them sell —

Oh, mockery of mercy given!                                                     [40]

Soon as returning health appears,

To raise the feeble, nerve the strong,

            Away, away —

            In sad array —

With whip and menace urged along.                                           [45]

            IV. — Slave-Market.

Hark!  to the wail from yonder mart,

The tale of grief and anguish spoke;

            Heart torn from heart —

            Friends sold apart —

And every tie of Nature broken!                                                 [50]

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Husbands and wives to meet no more!

Children from parents forced to sever!

            For paltry gold,

            To bondage sold,

Beyond the reach of hope for ever!                                              [55]

Oh piteous sight!  oh hapless throng!

Is there no mercy strong to save?

            Must thousands die

            In Slavery —

Their only freedom in the grave?                                                   [60]

            V. — Slave-Labour.

Hark!  to the voice from yon fair land,

Where all the sweets of Nature grow:

            Who tills the soil

            With grief and toil?

The wretched Slave!  the child of woe!                                          [65]

His tyrant-master goads him on —

He knows no sweets, he feels no rest;

            But whip and chains,

            And festering pains,

But mock the anguish of his breast!                                                [70]

Bowed down beneath the galling yoke,

Scorned and reviled, he longs to die;

            But months and years,

            ‘Mid groans and tears,

Drag on in sad captivity!                                                                [75]

            VI. — Appeal to Christians.

For whom this labour, grief and sin?

Daughters of England, can it be,

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            That in your Isle,

            You sit and smile,

Yet clad in fruits of Slavery?                                                        [80]

“Oh, touch not, taste not, handle not,”

The produce raised on Freedom’s grave!

            Else, while you sigh

            O’er Slavery,

You press the links upon the Slave.                                              [85]

For you that strife on Afric’s shore —

For you that vessel fraught with death —

            The blood, the toil,

            That feed the soil,

The scourged limbs, the wasting breath!                                          [90]

            VII. — Freedom of the Gospel.

Christians of England, haste, arise

The Bond of Brotherhood proclaim;

            Christ died to save

            The Negro-Slave —

Freedom for all in Jesus’ name.                                                     [95]

Spirit of Liberty, descend!

And make our hearts with joy forego

            Each tempting good,

            In clothes or food,

If purchased by a brother’s woe.                                                   [100]

Let every Nation, hand in hand,

In love, and peace, and strength combined,

            United be,

            One Family,

The Brotherhood of all Mankind.                                                   [105]

Leeds Anti-Slavery Series.  No. 66

Sold by W. and F.G. Cash, 5 Bishopgate Street, London; and by Jane Jowett,

Friends’ Meeting Yard, Leeds, at 1s. 2d. per 100.