To man superior reason's light was giv'n,
Reason, the noblest gift of bounteous heav'n;
Unfailing beam, bright intellectual ray
Thou steady guide through errors devious way;
Say, wert thou first by gracious heav'n design'd,
To stamp injustice on the human kind;
Forbid it truth, forbid it ev'ry breast
That heaves in pity for the wretch oppress'd;
Yet reason, jutice, mercy, plead in vain,
Still the sad victim drags his galling chain;
Still bows submissive to the tyrant hand,
That tore the suff'rer from his native land;
Yet, e'er the arts of lux'ry began,
They boasted liberty, the right of man;
Serene, they saw each peaceful morning smile,
Joy led their hours and plenty bless'd their toil;
Their pleading sighs, their suppliant moving pray'r,
Daughter of Virtue! Royal Charlotte, hear!
Sovereign, yet parent, of this happy isle,
O'er whose gay plains fair Plenty deigns to smile;
Where spotless peace extends her azure wing,
And liberty's enchanting blossoms spring;
Thine is compassion's sympathetic sigh,
The melting tear that beams in pity's eye;
The heart like thine, that feels another's pain,
Hears not distress'd misfortune plead in vain;
Be't thine to heal pale sorrow's wounded breast,
And lull each raging passion into rest;
Let not the wretched slave in vain deplore
The long-lost joys he must behold no more;
Then, while Britannia hails thy sacred name,
A deed like this shall swell the trump of fame;
Virtues like thine shall wake the sounding lyre,
Each bosom glow with emulative fire;
And, swell'd with themes like this, the poet's page
Remain admir'd through each succeeding age.