. Poetical works of James Montgomery . ming through the night. And, midst the shrieks of murder on the wind, Heard the mule blood-hounds death-step close behind. The conflict oer, the valiant in their graves,The wretched remnant dwindled into slaves ;Condemnd in pestilential cells to pine,Delving for gold amidst the gloomy mine,The suflerer, sick of life-protracting with joy the fire-damp blast of death ;—Condemnd to fell the mountain palm on high,That cast its shadow from the evening the tree trembled to his feeble woodman languishd, and his heart-strings bro
. Poetical works of James Montgomery . ming through the night. And, midst the shrieks of murder on the wind, Heard the mule blood-hounds death-step close behind. The conflict oer, the valiant in their graves,The wretched remnant dwindled into slaves ;Condemnd in pestilential cells to pine,Delving for gold amidst the gloomy mine,The suflerer, sick of life-protracting with joy the fire-damp blast of death ;—Condemnd to fell the mountain palm on high,That cast its shadow from the evening the tree trembled to his feeble woodman languishd, and his heart-strings broke ;—Condemnd in torrid noon, with palsied hand,To urge the slow plough oer the obdurate land,The labourer, smitten by the suns quick ray,A corpse along the unfinishd furrow la3\Oerwhelmd at length with ignominious toil,Minolincr their barren ashes with the soil,Down to the dust the Charib people passd,Like autumn foliage withering in the blast:The whole race sunk beneath the oppressors rod,And left a blank among the works of PART II. Argument.—r/(e Cane—Jlfnca—The JVegro—The Slave-carrying Trade—TheMeans and Resources of the Slave Trade—The Portuguese, Dutch, Danes,French, and English in America. Among the bowers of paradise, that graced Those islands of the world-dividing waste, Where towering cocoas waved their graceful locks, And vines luxuriant clusterd round the rocks ; ^Vhere orange-groves perfumed the circling air. With verdure, flowers, and fruit for ever fair; Gay myrtle-foliage trackd the winding rills, And cedar forests slumberd on the hills ; —An eastern plant, engrafted on the soil,^ Was tilld for ages with consuming toil; No tree of knowledge with forbidden fruit. Death in the taste, and ruin at the root; Yet in its growth were good and evil found,— It blessd the planter, but it cursed the ground While with vain wealth it gorged the masters hoard. And spread with manna his luxurious board, Its culture was perdition to the slave,— It sa
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