English 2 quotes
Observations....
"If God created only Adam and of a piece of him made the woman, and if by generation from them two as parts of them all mankind be propagated; if also God gave to Adam not only the dominion over woman and the children that should issue from them, but also over the whole earth to subdue it, and over all the creatures on it, so that as long as Adam lived no man could claim or enjoy anything but by donation, assignation or permission from him; I wonder how the right of nature can be imagined by Mr Hobbes, which, he saith, is a liberty 'for each man to use his own power as he will himself for preservation of his own life'; 'a condition of war of everyone against everyone'; 'a right of every man to everything, even to one another's body,' especially since himself affirms 'that originally the father of every man was also his sovereign lord with power over him to life and death.'" (187)
The Vision
My heart did glowing transport feel, To see a Race heroic wheel, And brandish round the deep-dy'd steel In sturdy blows; While, back-recoiling, seem'd to reel Their Suthron foes. His COUNTRY'S SAVIOUR, mark him well! Bold RICHARDTON'S heroic swell; The Chief on Sark who glorious fell In high command; And He whom ruthless Fates expel His native land. There, where a sceptr'd Pictish shade Stalk'd round his ashes lowly laid, I mark'd a martial Race, pourtray'd In colours strong: Bold, soldier-featur'd, undismay'd, They strode along. Thro' many a wild, romantic grove, Near many a hermit-fancy'd cove (Fit haunts for Friendship or for Love In musing mood), An aged Judge, I saw him rove, Dispensing good. With deep-struck, reverential awe, The learned Sire and Son I saw: To Nature's God, and Nature's law, They gave their lore; This, all its source and end to draw, That, to adore. BRYDON'S brave Ward I well could spy, Beneath old SCOTIA'S smiling eye; Who call'd on Fame, low standing by, To hand him on, Where many a Patrio- name on high, And hero shone. (Duan First, lines 97-132)
Gulliver's Travels
"At last I fixed upon a Resolution, for which it is probably I may incur some Censure, and not unjustly; for I confess I owe the preserving my Eyes, and consequently my Liberty, to my own great Rashness and want of Experience: because if I had then known the Nature of Princes and Ministers, which I have since observed in many other Courts, and their Methods of treating Criminals less obnoxious than myself, I should with great alacrity and readiness have submitted to so easy a Punishment" (2368)
Two Treatises
"But I hope they do not expect, that rational and indifferent men should be brought over to their opinion, because this their great doctor of it, in a discourse made on purpose to set up the absolute monarchical power of Adam, in opposition to the natural freedom of mankind, has said so little to prove it, from whence it is rather naturally to be concluded, that there is little to be said." (I, II, p. 12)
Gulliver's Travels
"However, it was not long before I had an Opportunity of doing his Majesty, at least, as I then thought, a most signal Service. I was alarmed at Midnight with the Cries of many hundred People at my Door; by which being suddenly awaked, I was in some kind of Terror. I heard the word Burglum repeated incessantly: several of the Emperor's Court making their Way through the Crowd, intreated me to come immediately to the Palace, where her Imperial Majesty's Apartment was on fire, by the carelessness of a Maid of Honour, who fell asleep while she was reading a Romance. I got up in an instant; and Orders being given to clear the way before me, and it being likewise a Moon-shine Night, I made a shift to get to the Palace without trampling on any of the People. I found they had already applied Ladders to the Walls of the Apartment, and were well provided with Buckets, but the Water was at some distance. These Buckets were about the size of a large Thimble, and the poor People supplied me with them as fast as they could; but the Flame was so violent, that they did little good. I might easily have stifled it with my Coat, which I unfortunately left behind me for haste, and came away only in my Leathern Jerkin. The Case seemed wholly desperate and deplorable, and this magnificent Palace would have infallibly been burnt down to the ground, if, by a Presence of Mind, unusual to me, I had not suddenly thought of an Expedient. [...] The Heat I had contracted by coming very near the Flames, and by my laboring to quench them, made the Wine begin to operate by Urine; which I voided in such a Quantity, and applied so well to the proper Places, that in three Minutes the Fire was wholly extinguished, and the rest of that noble Pile, which had cost so many Ages in erecting, preserved from Destruction." (2357)
Gulliver's Travels
"I had been for some Hours extremely pressed by the Necessities of Nature; which was no wonder, it being almost two Days since I had last disburthened myself. I was under great Difficulties between Urgency and Shame. The best Expedient I could think on, was to creep into my House, which I accordingly did; and shutting the Gate after me, I went as far as the length of my Chain would suffer, and discharged my Body of that uneasy Load. But this was the only time I was ever guilty of so uncleanly an Action; for which I cannot but hope the candid Reader will give some Allowance, after he hath maturely and impartially considered my Case, and the Distress I was in. From this time my constant Practice was, as soon as I rose, to perform that Business in open Air, at the full extent of my Chain, and due Care was taken every Morning before Company came, that the offensive Matter should be carried off in Wheel-barrows by two Servants appointed for that purpose. I would not have dwelt so long upon a Circumstance, that perhaps at first sight may appear not very momentous, if I had not thought it necessary to justify my Character in point of Cleanliness to the World; which I am told some of my Maligners have been pleased, upon this and other Occasions, to call into question." (2340-1)
Paradise Lost
"Is this the region, this the soil, the clime," Said then the lost Archangel, "this the seat That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom For that celestial light? Be it so, since he Who now is sovran can dispose and bid What shall be right: farthest from him is best Whom reason hath equaled, force hath made supreme Above his equals. Farewell happy fields Where joy for ever dwells: Hail horrors, hail Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell Receive thy new possessor: one who brings A mind not to be changed by place or time. The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n. What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n. (Book 1, lines 242-64)
Paradise Lost
"O myriads of immortal Spirits, O Powers Matchless, but with th' Almighty, and that strife Was not inglorious, though th' event was dire, As this place testifies, and this dire change Hateful to utter: but what power of mind Foreseeing or presaging, from the depth Of knowledge past or present, could have feared, How such united force of gods, how such As stood like these, could ever know repulse? For who can yet believe, though after loss, That all these puissant legions, whose exile Hath emptied Heav'n, shall fail to reascend Self-raised, and repossess their native seat? For me, but witness all the host of Heav'n, If counsels different, or danger shunned By me, have lost our hopes. But he who reigns Monarch in Heav'n, till then as one secure Sat on his throne, upheld by old repute, Consent or custom, and his regal state Put forth at full, but still his strength concealed, Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall. Henceforth his might we know, and know our own So as not either to provoke, or dread New war, provoked; our better part remains To work in close design, by fraud or guile What force effected not: that he no less At length from us may find, who overcomes By force, hath overcome but half his foe. Space may produce new worlds; whereof so rife There went a fame in Heav'n that he ere long Intended to create, and therein plant A generation, whom his choice regard Should favor equal to the sons of Heaven: Thither, if but to pry, shall perhaps Our first eruption, thither or elsewhere: For this infernal pit shall never hold Celestial Spirits in bondage, not th' abyss Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts Full counsel must mature: peace is despaired, For who can think of submission? War then, war Open or understood must be resolved." (I, ll. 622-62)
William Wilberforce
"Sir, when we think of eternity and the future consequence of all human conduct, what is there in this life that shall make any man contradict the dictates of his conscience, the principles of justice and the law of God!" (House of Commons, 1788)
Two Treatises
"Slavery is so vile and miserable a state of man, and so directly opposite to the generous temper and courage of our nation, that it is hardly to be considered that an Englishman, much less a gentleman, should plead for it. And truly I should have taken sir Robert Filmer's Patriarcha, as any other treatise, which would persuade all men that they are slaves, and ought to be so, for such another exercise of wit as was his who writ the encomium of Nero . . ." (I, I, p. 7)
Gulliver's Travels
"The Emperor had a mind one day to entertain me with several of the Country Shows, wherein they exceeded all Nations I have known, both for Dexterity and Magnificence. I was diverted with none so much as that of the Rope-Dancers, performed upon a slender white Thread, extended about two Foot, and twelve Inches from the Ground. [...] This Diversion is only practiced by those Persons who are Candidates for great Employments, and high Favor, at Court. They are trained in this Art from their Youth, and are not always of noble Birth, or liberal Education. When a great Office is vacant either by Death or Disgrace (which often happens) five or six of those Candidates petition the Emperor to entertain his Majesty and the Court with a Dance on the Rope, and whoever jumps the highest without falling, succeeds in the Office. Very often the Chief Ministers themselves are commanded to show their Skill, and to convince the Emperor that they have not lost their Faculty." (2346-7)
Observations...
"These last doctrines are destructive to all government whatsoever, and even to Leviathan itself. Hereby any rogue or villain may murder his sovereign, if the sovereign but offer by force to whip or lay him the stocks, since whipping may be said to be a wounding, and putting in the stocks an imprisonment. So likewise every man's goods being a means of living, if a man cannot abandon them, no contract among men, be it never so just, can be observed. Thus we are at least in as miserable a condition of war as Mr Hobbes at first by nature found us." (195)
Two Treatises
"Though the earth, and all inferior creatures, be common to all men, yet every man has a property in his own person: this nobody has any right to but himself. The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his. Whatsover he removes out of the state that nature hath provided, and left it in, he hath mixed his labour with, and joined to it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property. It being by him removed from the common state nature hath placed it in, it hath by this labour something annexed to it that excludes the common right of other mean. For this labour being the unquestionable property of the labourer, no man but he can have a right to what that is once joined to, at least where there is enough, and as good, left in common for others." (II, V, p. 111-12)
Two Treatises
"Thus labour, in the beginning, gave a right of property wherever any one was pleased to employ it upon what was common, which remained a long while the far greater part, and is yet more than mankind makes use of. Men, at first, for the most part, contented themselves with what unassisted nature offered to their necessities: and though afterwards, in some parts of the world, (where the increase of people and stock, with the use of money, had made land scarce, and so of some value) the several communities settled the bounds of their distinct territories, and by laws within themselves regulated the properties of the private men of their society, and so, by compact and agreement, settled the property which labour and industry began: and the leagues that have been made between several states and kingdoms, either expressly or tacitly disowning all claim and right to land in the others' possession, have, by common consent, given up their pretences to their natural common right, which originally they had to those countries, and so have, by positive agreement, settled a property amongst themselves, in distinct parts and parcels of the earth; yet there are still great tracts of ground to be found, which (the inhabitants thereof not having joined with the rest of mankind in the consent of the use of their common money) lie waste, and are more than the people who dwell on it do or can make use of, and so still lie in common; though this can scarce happen amongst that part of mankind that have consented to the use of money. (II, V, p. 119)
Gulliver's Travels
"Two Days after this Adventure, the Emperor having ordered that Part of his Army which quarters in and about his Metropolis to be in a readiness, took a fancy of diverting himself in a very singular manner. He desired I would stand like a Colossus, with my Legs as far asunder as I conveniently could. He then commanded his General (who was an old experienced Leader, and a great Patron of mine) to draw up the Troops in close Order, and march them under me, the Foot by Twenty-four in a breast, and the Horse by Sixteen, with Drums beating, Colours flying, and Pikes advanced. This Body consisted of three thousand Foot, and a thousand Horse. His Majesty gave Orders, upon pain of Death, that every Soldier in his March should observe the strictest Decency, with regard to my Person; which, however, could not prevent some of the younger Officers from turning up their Eyes as they passed under me. And, to confess the Truth, my Breeches were at that time in so ill a Condition, that they afforded some Opportunities for Laughter and Admiration." (2349)
Of the Laws...
"Two foundations there are which bear up public societies, the one a natural inclination whereby all men desire a sociable life and fellowship, the other an order expressly or secretly agreed upon, touching the manner of their union in living together. The latter is that which we call the law of a commonweal, the very soul of a politic body, the parts whereof are by law animated, held together and set on work in such actions as the common good requireth. Laws politic, ordained for external order and regiment amongst men, are never framed as they should be, unless presuming the will of man to be inwardly obstinate, rebellious, and averse from all obedience unto the sacred laws of his nature--in a word, unless presuming man to be in regard of his depraved mind little better than a wild beast--they do accordingly provide notwithstanding so to frame his outward actions that they be no hindrance unto the common good for which societies are instituted; unless they do this, they are not perfect. . . . All men desire to lead in this world a happy life. That life is led most happily, wherein all virtue is exercised without impediment or let." (562)
Paradise Lost 9
"Would thou hadst hearkened to my words, and stayed/With me, as I besought thee, when that strange Desire of wand'ring this unhappy morn,/I know not whence possessed thee; we had then Remained still happy, not as now, despoiled/Of all our good, shamed, naked, miserable. Let none henceforth seek needless cause to approve/The faith they owe; when earnestly they seek Such proof, conclude, then then begin to fail." To whom soon moved with touch of blame thus Eve: "What words have passed thy lips, Adam severe,/Imput'st thou that to my default, or will Of wand'ring, as thou call'st it, which who knows/But might as ill have happened thou being by Or to thyself perhaps: hadst thou been there,/Or here th' attempt, thou couldst not have discerned Fraud in the serpent, speaking as he spake;/No ground of enmity between us known, Why he should mean me ill, or seek to harm./Was I to have never parted from thy side? As good have grown there still a lifeless rib./Being as I am, why didst not thou the head Command me absolutely not to go,/Going into such danger as thou saidst? Too facile then thou didst not much gainsay,/Nay didst permit, approve, and fair dismiss. Hadst thou been firm and fixed in thy dissent,/Neither had I transgressed, nor thou with me." To whom then first incensed Adam replied. "Is this the love, is this the recompense/Of mine to thee, ingrateful Eve, expressed Immutable when thou wert lost, not I,/Who might have lived and joyed immortal bliss, Yet willingly chose rather death with thee:/And am I now upbraided, as the cause Of thy transgressing? Not enough severe,/It seems, in thy restraint: what could I more? I warned thee, I admonished thee, foretold/The danger, and the lurking enemy That lay in wait; beyond this had been force,/And force upon free will hath no place. But confidence then bore thee on, secure/Either to meet no danger, or to find Matter of glorious trial; and perhaps/I also erred in overmuch admiring What seemed in thee so perfect, that I thought/No evil durst attempt thee, but I rue That error now, which is become my crime,/And thou th' accuser. Thus it shall befall Him to worth in women overtrusting/Lets her will rule; restraint will she not brook, And left to herself, if evil thence ensue,/She first his weak indulgence will accuse." Thus they in mutual accusation spent/The fruitless hours, but neither self-condemning/And of their vain contest appeared no end. (9, ll. 1134-89)
The Chimney Sweeper, Songs of Experience
A little black thing among the snow: Crying weep, weep, in notes of woe! Where are thy father & mother? say? They are both gone up to the church to pray. Because I was happy upon the heath, And smil'd among the winters snow: They clothed me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe. And because I am happy, & dance & sing, They think they have done me no injury: And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King Who make up a heaven of our misery.
Leviathan
And consequently it is a precept or general rule of reason, That every man ought to endeavor peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it; and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek and use all helps and advantages of war. The first branch of which rule containeth the first and fundamental law of nature, which is to seek peace and follow it. The second, the sum of the right of nature, which is, by all means to defend ourselves. (1593)
And did those feet, Jerusalem
And did those feet in ancient time, Walk upon Englands mountains green: And was the holy Lamb of God, On Englands pleasant pastures seen! And did the Countenance Divine, Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here, Among these dark Satanic Mills? Bring me by Bow of burning gold: Bring me my Arrows of desire: Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold! Bring me my Chariot of fire! I will not cease from Mental Fight Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand: Till we have build Jerusalem In Englands green & pleasant Land.
Oroonoko
And though they are all thus naked, if one lives forever among 'em there is not to be seen an indecent action or glance; and being continually used to see one another so unadorned, so like our first parents before the Fall, it seems as if they had no wishes; there being nothing to heighten curiosity, but all you can see you see at once, and every moment see, and where there is no novelty there can be no curiosity. Not but I have seen a handsome young Indian dying for love of a very beautiful young Indian maid; but all his courtship was to fold his arms, pursue her with his eyes, and sighs were all his language; while she, as if no such lover were present, or rather, as if she desired none such, carefully guarded her eyes from beholding him, and never approached him but she looked down with all the blushing modesty I have seen the most severe and cautious of our world. And these people represented to me an absolute idea of the first state of innocence, before man knew how to sin. And 'tis most evident and plain that simple Nature is the most harmless, inoffensive, and virtuous mistress. 'Tis she alone, if she were permitted, that better instructs the world than all the inventions of man. Religion would here but destroy that tranquillity they possess by ignorance, and laws would but teach 'em to know offense, of which now they have no notion. They once made mourning and fasting for the death of the English governor, who had given his hand to come on such a day to 'em and neither came nor sent, believing when once a man's word was passed, nothing but death could or should prevent his keeping it. And when they saw he was not dead, they asked him what name they had for a man who promised a thing he did not do. The governor told them, such a man was a liar, which was a word of infamy to a gentleman. Then one of 'em replied, "Governor, you are a liar, and guilty of that infamy." They have a native justice which knows no fraud, and they understand no vice or cunning, but when they are taught by white men. (2172)
A Pilgrim's Progress
As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a Den, and I laid me down in that place to sleep; and, as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I dreamed, and behold I saw a man clothes with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back . . . I looked and saw him open the book and read therein; and, as he read, he wept, and trembled; and not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a lamentable cry, saying, "What shall I do?" In this plight, therefore, he went home and refrained himself as long as he could, that his wife and children should not perceive his distress; but he could not be silent long, because that his trouble increased.
Two Treatises
But though men, when they enter into society, give up the equality, liberty, and executive power they had in the state of nature, into the hands of the society, to be so far disposed of by the legislative as the good of society shall require; yet it being only with an intention in every one to better to preserve himself, his liberty and property (for no rational creature can be supposed to change his condition with an intention to be worse); the power of the society, or legislative constituted by them, can never be supposed to extend farther than the common good; but is obliged to secure every one's property . . . And so whoever has the legislative or supreme power of any commonwealth, is bound to govern by established standing laws, promulgated and known to the people, and not by extemporary decrees; by indifferent and upright judges, who are to decide controversies by those laws; and to employ the force of the community at home, only in the execution of such laws; or abroad to prevent or redress foreign injuries, and secure the community from inroads and invasion. And this to be directed to no other end but the peace, safety, and public good of the people. (II, IX, pp. 156-57)
Oroonoko
Caesar, having singled out these men from the women and children, made an harangue to 'em of the miseries and ignominies of slavery, counting up all their toils and sufferings, under such loads, burdens, and drudgeries as were fitter for beasts than men, senseless brutes than human souls. He told 'em, it was not for days, months, or years, but for eternity; there was no end to be of their misfortunes. They suffered not like men, who might find a glory and fortitude in oppression, but like dogs that loved the whip and bell, and fawned the more they were beaten. That they had lost the divine quality of men and were become insensible asses, fit only to bear; nay, worse: an ass, or dog, or horse, having done his duty, could lie down in retreat and rise to work again, and while he did his duty endured no stripes; but men, villainous, senseless men such as they, toiled on all the tedious week till Black Friday; and then, whether they worked or not, whether they were faulty or meriting, they promiscuously, the innocent with the guilty, suffered the infamous whip, the sordid stripes, from their fellow slaves, till their blood trickled from all parts of their body, blood whose every drop ought to be revenged with a life of some of those tyrants that impose it. "And why," said he, "my dear friends and fellow sufferers, should we be slaves to an unknown people? Have they vanquished us nobly in a fight? Have they won us in honorable battle? And are we by the chance of war become their slaves? This would not anger a noble heart, this would not animate a soldier's soul; no, but we are bought and sold like apes or monkeys, to be the sport of women, fools, and cowards, and the support of rogues, runagades, that have abandoned their own countries for rapine, murders, thefts, and villainies. Do you not hear every day how they upbraid each other with infamy of life, below the wildest savages; and shall we render obedience to such a degenerate race, who have no one human virtue left to distinguish 'em from the vilest creatures? Will you, I say, suffer the lash from such hands?" They all replied, with one accord, "No, no, no; Caesar has spoke like a great captain, like a great king." (2205-06)
Paradise Lost 9
He ended, and they both descend the hill;/Descended, Adam to the bow'r where Eve/Lay sleeping ran before, but found her waked; And thus with words not sad she him received: "Whence thou return'st, and whither went'st, I know;/For God is also in sleep, and dreams advise,/Which he hath sent propitious, some great good/Presaging, since with sorrow and heart's distress/Wearied I fell asleep: but now lead on;/In me is no delay; with thee to go,/Is to stay here; without thee here to stay,/Is to go hence unwilling; thou to me/Art all things under heav'n, all places thou,/Who for my wilful crime art banished hence./This further consolation yet secure/I carry hence; though all by me is lost,/Such favor I unwrothy am vouchsafed,/By me the Promised Seed shall all restore. So spake our mother Eve, and Adam heard/Well pleased, but answered not; for now too nigh/Th' Archangel stood, and from the other hill/To their fixed station, all in bright array/The Cherubim descended; on the ground/Gliding meterorous, as evening mist/Ris'n from a river o'er the marish glides,/And gathers ground fast at the laborer's heel/Homeward returning. High in front advanced,/The brandished sword of God before them blazed/Fierce as a comet; which with torrid heat,/And vapor as the Libyan air adust,/Began to parch tht temperate clime; whereat/In either hand the hast'ning angel caught/Our ling-ring parents, and to the eastern gate/Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast/To the subjected plain; then disappeared. They looking back, all th'eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming brand, the gate With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms: Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide: They hand in hand with wand-ring steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way. (12, ll. 606-49)
Introduction, Songs of Experience
Hear the voice of the Bard! Who Present, Past, & Future sees Whose ears have heard, The Holy Word, That walk'd among the ancient trees. Calling the lapsed Soul And weeping in the evening dew: That might controll, The starry pole; And fallen fallen light renew! Earth O Earth return! Arise from out the dewy grass; Night is worn, And the morn Rises from the slumberous mass. Turn away no more: Why wilt thou turn away The starry floor The watry shore Is giv'n thee till break of day.
The Task
Here Ouse, slow winding through a level plain Of spacious meads with cattle sprinkled o'er, Conducts the eye along its sinuous course Delighted. There, fast rooted in their bank, Stand, never overlooked, our favorite elms, That screen the herdsman's solitary hut; While far beyond, and overthwart the stream That, as with molten glass, inlays the vale, The sloping land recedes into the clouds; Displaying on its varied side the grace Of hedgerow beauties, numberless, square tower, Tall spire, from which the sound of cheerful bells Just undulates upon the listening ear, Groves, heaths, and smoking villages, remote. Scenes must be beautiful, when daily viewed, Please daily, and whose novelty survives Long knowledge and the scrutiny of years-- Praise justly due to those that I describe. (163-180)
Oroonoko
I have often seen and conversed with this great man, and been a witness to many of his mighty actions, and do assure my reader the most illustrious courts could not have produced a braver man, both for greatness of courage and mind, a judgment more solid, a wit more quick, and a conversation more sweet and diverting. He knew almost as much as if he had read much. He had heard of and admired the Romans; he had heard of the late civil wars in England, and the deplorable death of our great monarch, and would discourse of it with all the sense and abhorrence of the injustice imaginable. He had an extreme good and graceful mien, and all the civility of a well-bred great man. He had nothing of barbarity in his nature, but in all points addressed himself as if his education had been in some European court. . . . He was pretty tall, but of a shape the most exact that can be fancied. The most famous statuary could not form the figure of a man more admirably turned from head to foot. His face was not of that brown, rusty black which most of that nation are, but a perfect ebony or polished jet. His eyes were the most awful that could be seen, and very piercing, the white of 'em being like snow, as were his teeth. His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat; his mouth the finest shaped that could be seen, far from those great turned lips which are so natural to the rest of the Negroes. The whole proportion and air of his face was so noble and exactly formed that, bating his color, there could be nothing in nature so beautiful, agreeable, and handsome. There was no grace wanting that bears the standard of true beauty. His hair came down to his shoulders by the aids of art; which by pulling it out with a quill and keeping it combed, of which he took particular care. Nor did the perfections of his mind come short of those of his person, for his discourse was admirable upon almost any subject; and whoever had heard him speak would have been convinced of their errors, that all fine wit is confined to the white men, especially to those of Christendom, and would have confessed that Oroonoko was as capable even of reigning well, and of governing as wisely, had as great a soul, as politic maxims, and was as sensible of power, as any prince civilized in the most refined schools of humanity and learning, or the most illustrious courts. (2174-75)
LONDON, Songs of Experience
I wander thro' each charter'd street, Near where the charter'd Thames does flow. And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. In every cry of every Man, In every Infants cry of fear, In every voice: in every ban, The mind-forg'd manacles I hear How the Chimney-sweepers cry Every blackning Church appalls, And the hapless Soldiers sigh Runs in blood down Palace walls But most thro' midnight streets I hear How the youthful Harlots curse Blasts the new-born Infants tear And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse
The Deserted Village
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay; Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade; A breath can make them, as a breath has made; But a bold peasantry, their country's pride. When once destroyed, can never be supplied. A time there was, ere England's griefs began, When every rood of ground maintained its man; For him light labor spread her wholesome store, Just gave what life required, but gave no more: His best companions, innocence and health; And his best riches, ignorance of wealth. But times are altered; Trade's unfeeling train Usurp the land and dispossess the swain; Along the lawn, where scattered hamlets rose, Unwieldy wealth, and cumbrous pomp repose; And every want to opulence allied, And every pang that folly pays to pride. (51-68)
A Man's a Man for A'That
Is there, for honest Poverty That hings his head, an' a' that; The coward-slave, we pass him by, We dare be poor for a' that! For a' that, an' a' that, The rank is but the guinea's stamp, The Man 's the gowd for a' that. What though on hamely faire we dine, Wear hoddin grey, an' a' that? Gie fooks their silks, and knaves their wine, A Man's a Man for a' that. For a' that, an' a' that, Their tinsel show, an' a' that; The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor, Is king o' men for a' that. Ye see yon birkie ca'd a lord, Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that, Tho' hundreds worship at his word, He's but a coof for a' that. For a' that, an a' that. His ribband, star, an a' that, The man o' independent mind, He looks an' laughs at a'that. A Prince can mak a belted knight, A marquis, duke, an a' that! But an honest man's aboon his might-- Guid faith, he mauna fa' that! For a' that, an' a' that, Their dignities, an' a' that, The pith o' Sense an' pride o' Worth Are higher rank than a' that. Then let us pray that come it may, As come it will for a' that, That Sense and Worth o'er a'the earth Shall bear the gree an' a' that. For a' that, an' a' that, That Man to Man the warld o'er Shall brithers be for a' that.
Holy Thursday, Songs of Experience
Is this a holy thing to see, In a rich and fruitful land, Babes reduced to misery, Fed with a cold and usurous hand? Is that trembling cry a song? Can it be a song of joy? And so many children poor? It is a land of poverty! And their sun does never shine. And their fields are bleak & bare. And their ways are fill'd with thorns. It is eternal winter there. For where-e'er the sun does shine, And where-e'er the rain does fall: Babe can never hunger there, Nor poverty the mind appall.
A Brief to Free a Slave
It must be agreed that in most ages many countries have had part of their inhabitants in a state of slavery; yet it may be doubted whether slavery can ever be supposed the natural condition of man. It is impossible not to conceive that men in their original state were equal; and very difficult to imagine how one would be subjected to another but by violent compulsion. An individual may, indeed, forfeit his liberty by a crime; but he cannot by that crime forfeit the liberty of his children. . . . The laws of Jamaica afford a Negro no redress. His color is considered as a sufficient testimony against him. It is to be lamented that moral right should ever give way to political convenience. But if temptations of interest are sometimes too strong for human virtue, let us at least retain a virtue where there is no temptation to quit it. In the present case there is apparent right on one side, and no convenience on the other. Inhabitants of this island can neither gain riches nor power by taking away the liberty of any part of the human species. The sum of the argument is this:--No man is by nature the property of another: The defendant is, therefore, by nature free: The rights of nature must be some way forfeited before they can be justly taken away: That the defendant has by any act forfeited the right of nature we require to be proved; and if no proof of such forfeiture can be given, we bout not but the justice of the court will declare him free. (The case of Joseph Knight, 2811-12)
Sancho
It would be an insult on your humanity (or perhaps look like it) to apologize for the liberty I am taking.--I am one of those whom the vulgar and illberal call "Negurs."--The first part of my life was rather unlucky, as I was placed in a family who judged ignorance ghe best and only security for obedience.--A little reading and writing I got by unwearied application.--The latter part of my life has been--thor' God's blessing, truly fortunate, having spent it in the service of one of the best families in the kingdom.--My chief pleasure has been books.--Philanthropy I adore.--How very much, good Sir, am I (amongst millions) indebted to you for the character of your amiable Uncle Toby!--I declare, I would walk ten miles in the dog-days, to shake hands with the honest corporal.--Your sermons have touch'd me to the heart, and I hope I have amended it, which brings me to the point.--In your tenth discourse, page seventy-eight, in the second volume--is this very affecting passage--"Consider how great a part of our species--in all ages down to this--have been trod under the feet of cruel and capricious tyrants who would neither hear their cries, nor pity their distresses.--Consider slavery--what it is--how bitter a draught--and how many millions are made to drink it!"--Of all my favorite authors, not one has drawn a tear in favor of my miserable black brethren--excepting yourself, and the humane author of Sir George Ellison.--I think you will forgive me;--I am sure you will applaud me for beseeching you to give one half-hour's attention to slavery, as it is this day practised in our West Indies.--That subject, handled in your striking manner, would ease the yoke (perhaps) of many--but if only of one--Gracious God!--what a feast to a benevolent heart!--and, sure I am, you are an epicurean in acts of charity.--You, who are universally read, and as universally admired--you could not fail--Dear Sir, think in me you behold the uplifted hands of thousands of my brother Moors.--Grief (you pathetically observe) is eloquent;--figure to yourself their attitudes;--hear their supplicating addresses!--alas!--you cannot refuse.--Humanity must comply--in which hope I beg permission to subscribe myself,
Elegy Written in Country Churchyard
Let not ambition mock their useful toil, Their homely joys, and destiny obscure; Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile The short and simple annals of the poor. The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Awaits alike the inevitable hour. The paths of glory lead but to the grave. (29-36)
The Lamb, Songs of Innocense
Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee Gave thee life & bid thee feed. By the stream & o'er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Safest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice! Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee Little Lamb I'll tell thee, Little Lamb I'll tell thee! He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb; He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child: I a child & thou a lamb, We are called by his name. Little Lamb God bless thee. Little Lamb God bless thee.
Two Treatises
Men being, as has been said, by nature all free, equal, and independent, no one can be put out of this estate, and subjected to the political power of another, without his own consent. The only way whereby any one divests himself of his natural liberty, and puts on the bonds of civil society, is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community, for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another, in a secure enjoyment of their properties, and a greater security against any that are not of it. This any number of men may do, because it injures not the freedom of the rest; they are left as they were in the liberty of the state of nature. When any number of men have consented to make one community or government, they are thereby presently incorporated, and make one body politic, wherein the majority have a right to act and conclude the rest. (II, VIII, pp. 141-42)
The Blossom, Songs of Innocence
Merry Merry Sparrow Under leaves so green A happy Blossom Sees you swift as arrow Seek your cradle narrow Near my Bosom. Pretty Pretty Robin Under leaves so green A happy Blossom Hears you sobbing sobbing Pretty Pretty Robin Near my Bosom.
Oroonoko
My stay was to be short in that country, because my father died at sea, and never arrived to possess the honor was designed him (which was lieutenant general of six and thirty islands, besides the continent of Surinam) nor the advantages he hoped to reap by them; so that though we were obliged to continue on our voyage, we did not intend to stay upon the place. Though, in a word, I must say thus much of it, that certainly had his late Majesty, of sacred memory, but seen and known what a vast and charming world he had been master of in that continent, he would never have parted so easily with it to the Dutch. 'Tis a continent whose vast extent was never yet known, and may contain more noble earth than all the universe besides, for, they say, it reaches from east to west, one way as far as China and another to Peru. It affords all things both for beauty and use; 'tis there eternal spring, always the very months of April, May, and June; the shades are perpetual, the trees bearing at once all degrees of leaves and fruit, from blooming buds to ripe autumn; groves of oranges, lemons, citrons, figs, nutmegs, and noble aromatics, continually bearing their fragrancies. The trees appearing all like nosegays adorned with flowers of different kinds; some are all white, some purple, some scarlet, some blue, some yellow; bearing, at the same time, ripe fruit and blooming young, or producing every day new. The very wood of all these trees has an intrinsic value above common timber, for they are, when cut, of different colors, glorious to behold, and bear a price considerable, to inlay withal. Besides this they yield rich balm and gums, so that we make our candles of such an aromatic substance as does not only give a sufficient light, but, as they burn, they cast their perfumes all about. Cedar is the common firing, and all the houses are built with it. The very meat we eat, when set on the table, if it be native, I mean of the country, perfumes the whole room; especially a little beast called an armadilly, a thing which I can liken to nothing so well as a rhinoceros; 'tis all in white armor, so jointed that it moves as well in it as if it had nothing on; this beast is about the bigness of a pig of six weeks old. But it were endless to give an account of all the diverse wonderful and strange things that country affords, and which we took a very great delight to go in search of, though those adventures are oftentimes fatal and at least dangerous. But while we had Ceasar in our company on these designs we feared no harm, nor suffered any. (2198-99)
Paradise Lost 9
No more of talk where God or angel guest With man, as with his friend, familiar used To sit indulgent, and with him partake Rural repast, permitting him the while Venial discourse unblamed: I now must change Those notes to tragic; foul distrust, and breach Disloyal on the part of man, revolt, And disobedience: on the part of Heav'n Now alienated, distance and distaste, Anger and just rebuke, and judgment giv'n, That brought into this world a world of woe, Sin and her shadow Death, and misery Death's harbinger: sad task, yet argument Not less but more heroic than the wrath Of stern Achilles on his foe pursued Thrice fugitive about Troy wall; or rage Of Turnus for Lavinia disespoused, Or Neptune's ire or Juno's, that for so long Perplexed the Greek and Cytherea's son; If answerable style I can obtain Of my celestial patroness, who deigns Her nightly visitation unimplored, And dictates to me slumb'ring, or inspires Easy my unpremeditated verse; Since first this subject for heroic song Pleased me long choosing, and beginning late; Not sedulous by nature to indite Wars, hitherto the only argument Heroic deemed, chief mastery to dissect With long and tedious havoc fabled knights In battles feigned; the better fortitude Of patience and heroic martyrdom Unsung; or to describe races and games, Or tilting furniture, emblazoned shields, Impresses quaint, caparisons and steeds; Bases and tinsel trappings, gorgeous knights At joust and tournament; then marshaled feast Served up in hall with sewers, and seneschals; The skill of artifice or office mean, Not that which justly gives heroic name To person or to poem. (Book 9, ll. 1-41)
Pilgrim's Progress
Now while I was gazing upon all these things, I turned my head to look back, and saw Ignorance come up to the riverside; but he soon got over, and that without half the difficulty which the other two men met with. For it happened that there was then in that place one Vain-hope, a ferryman, that with his boat helped him over; so he, as the other, I saw, did ascend the hill to come up to the gate, only he came alone; neither did any man meet him with the least encouragement. When he was come up to the gate, he looked up to the writing that was above, and then began to knock, supposing that entrance should have been quickly administered to him; but he was asked by the men that looked over the top of the gate, Whence came you? And what would you have? He answered, I have eat and drank in the presence of the King, and he has taught in our streets. Then they asked him for his certificate, that they might go in and show it to the King; so he fumbled in his bosom for one, and found none. Then said they, Have you none? But the man answered never a word. So they told the King, but he would not come down to see him, but commanded the two Shining Ones that conducted Christian and Hopeful to the City, to go out and take Ignorance, and bind him hand and foot, and have him away. Then they took him up, and carried him through the air, to the door that I saw in the side of the hill, and put him in there. Then I saw that there was a way to hell, even from the gates of heaven, as well as from the City of Destruction. So I awoke, and behold it was a dream.
Pilgrim's Progress
Now, I further saw that betwixt them and the gate was a river, but there was no bridge to go over; the river was very deep. At the sight, therefore, of this river, the pilgrims were much stunned; but the men that went with them said, You must go through, or you cannot come at the gate. * * * They then addressed themselves to the water; and entering, Christian began to sink, and crying out to his good friend Hopeful, he said, I sink in deep waters; the billows go over my head, all his waves go over me! Selah! Then said the other, Be of good cheer, my brother, I feel the bottom, and it is good. Then said Christian, Ah, my friend, the sorrows of death have compassed me about; I shall not see the land that flows with milk and honey. And with that a great darkness and horror fell upon Christian, so that he could not see before him. * * * Then they both took courage, and the Enemy was after that as still as a stone, until they were gone over. Christian therefore found ground to stand upon, and so it followed that the rest of the river was but shallow. Thus they got over. Now, upon the bank of the river on the other side, they saw the two Shining Men again, who there waited for them. Wherefore, being come out of the river, they saluted them saying, We are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those that shall be heirs of salvation. Thus they went along towards the gate. (The River of Death and the Celestial City)
Olaudah Equiano
O, ye nominal Christians! might not an African ask you, learned you this from your God, who says unto you, Do unto all men as you would men should do unto you? Is it not enough that we are torn from our country and friends to toil for your luxury and lust of gain? Must every tender feeling be likewise sacrificed to your avarice? Are the dearest friends and relations, now rendered more dear by their separation from their kindred, still to be parted from each other, and thus prevented from cheering the gloom of slavery with the small comfort of being together and mingling their sufferings and sorrows? Why are parents to lose their children, brothers their sisters, or husbands their wives? Surely this is a new refinement in cruelty, which, while it has no advantage to atone for it, thus aggravates distress, and adds fresh horrors even to the wretchedness of slavery. (2816-17)
Introduction, Songs of Innocence
Piping down the valleys wild Piping songs of pleasant glee On a cloud I saw a child. And he laughing said to me. Pipe a song about a Lamb; So I piped with merry chear, Piper pipe that song again-- So I piped, he wept to hear. Drop thy pipe thy happy pipe Sing thy songs of happy chear, So I sung the same again While he wept with joy to hear. Piper sit thee down and write In a book that all may read-- So he vanish'd from my sight. And I pluck'd a hollow reed. And I made a rural pen, And I stain'd the water clear, And I wrote my happy songs Ever child may joy to hear
The Human Abstract, Songs of Experience
Pity would be no more, If we did not make somebody Poor: And Mercy no more could be, If all were as happy as we; And mutual fear brings peace; Till the selfish loves increase. Then Cruelty knits a snare, And spreads his baits with care. He sits down with holy fears, And waters the ground with tears: Then Humility takes its root Underneath his foot. Soon spreads the dismal shade Of Mystery over his head; And the Catterpiller and Fly, Feed on the Mystery. And it bears the fruit of Deceit, Ruddy and sweet to eat; And the Raven his nest has made In its thickest shade. The Gods of the earth and sea, Sought thro' Nature to find this Tree But their search was all in vain: There grows one in the Human Brain
Oroonoko
So that Caesar did not at all doubt, if he once recovered strength, but he should find an opportunity of being revenged on him. Though after such a revenge, he could not hope to live, for if he escaped the fury of the English mobile, who perhaps would have been glad of the occasion to have killed him, he was resolved not to survive his whipping; yet he had, some tender hours, a repenting softness, which he called his fits of coward, wherein he struggled with Love for the victory of his heart, which took part with his charming Imoinda there; but for the most part his time was passed in melancholy thought and black designs. He considered, if he should do this deed and die, either in the attempt or after it, he left his lovely Imoinda a prey, or at best a slave, to the enraged multitude; his great heart could not endure that thought. "Perhaps," said he, "she may be first ravished by every brute, exposed first to their nasty lusts and then a shameful death." No; he could not live a moment under that apprehension, too insupportable to be borne. These were his thoughts and his silent arguments with his heart, as he told us afterwards; so that now resolving not only to kill Byam but all those he thought had enraged him, pleasing his great heart with the fancied slaughter he should make over the whole face of the plantation, he first resolved on a deed, that (however horrid it at first appeared to us all), when we had heard his reasons, we thought it brave and just. (2211-12)
Leviathan
So that in the nature of man, we find three principal causes of quarrel. First Competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory. Hereby it is manifest that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man. For war consisteth not in battle only, or the act of fighting, but in a tract of time wherein the will to contend by battle is sufficiently known; and therefore the notion of time is to be considered in the nature of war, as it is in the nature of weather. For as the nature of foul weather lieth not in a shower or two of rain, but in an inclination thereto of many days together; so the nature of war consisteth not in actual fighting, but in the known disposition thereto, during all the time there is no assurance to the contrary. All other time is peace. Whatsover therefore is consequent to a time of war, where every man is enemy to every man, the same is consequent to the time wherein men live without other security than what their own strength and their own invention shall furnish them withal. In such a condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving, and removing, such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society, and, which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. (1591-92) * * * And consequently it is a precept or general rule of reason, That every man ought to endeavor peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it; and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek and use all helps and advantages of war. The first branch of which rule containeth the first and fundamental law of nature, which is to seek peace and follow it. The second, the sum of the right of nature, which is, by all means to defend ourselves. (1593)
Ode for Washington's Birthday
Thee, Caledonia, thy wild heaths among, Fam'd for the martial deed, the heaven-taught song, To thee, I turn with swimming eyes. Where is that soul of Freedom fled? Immingled with the might Dead! Beneath that hallow'd turf where WALLACE lies! Hear it not, Wallace, in thy bed of death! Ye babbling winds in silence sweep; Disturb not ye the hero's sleep, Nor give the coward secret breath. Is this the ancient Caledonian form, Firm as her rock, resistless as her storm? Shew me that eye which shot immortal hate, Blasting the Despot's proudest bearing: Shew me that arm which, nerv'd with thundering fate, Braved Usurpation's boldest daring! Dark-quench'd as yonder sinking star, No more that glance lightens afar; That palsied arm no more whirls on the waste of war. (ll. 44-62)
Pilgrim's Progress
Then I saw in my dream, that when they were got out of the wilderness, they presently saw a town before them, and the name of that town is Vanity; and at the town there is a fair kept, called Vanity Fair; it is kept all the year long; it beareth the name of Vanity Fair because the town where it is kept is lighter than vanity; and also because all that is there sold, or that cometh thither, is vanity. As is the saying of the wise, "All that cometh is vanity" . . . The fair is no new-erected business, but a thing of ancient standing; I will show you the original of it. * * * Therefore at this fair are all such merchandise sold, as houses, lands, trades, places, honors, preferments, titles, countries, kingdoms, lusts, pleasures, and delights of all sorts, as whores, bawds, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, souls, silver, gold, pearls, precious stones, and what not. . . . * * * And as in other fairs of less moment, there are the several rows and streets, under their proper names, where such and such wares are vended; so here likewise you have the proper places, rows, streets (viz., countries and kingdoms), where the wares of this fair are soonest to be found. Here is the Britain Row, the French Row, the Italian Row, the Spanish Row, the German Row, where several sorts of vanities are to be sold. But, as in other fairs, some one commodity is as the chief of all the fair, so the ware of Rome, and her merchandise is greatly promoted in this fair; only our English nation, with some others, have taken a dislike thereat. (Vanity Fair)
Reply to Sancho
There is a strange coincidence, Sancho, in little events (as well as in the great ones) of this world: for I had been writing a tender tale of the sorrows of a friendless poor negro-girl, and my eyes had scarce done smarting with it, when your letter of recommendation in behalf o so many of her brethren and sisters, came to me--but why her brethren? Or your's, Sancho! any more than mine?? It is by the finest tints, and most insensible gradations, that nature descends from the fairest face about St. James's, to the sootiest complexion in Africa: at which tint of these, is it, that the ties of blood are to cease? And how many shades must we descend lower still in the scale, 'ere mercy is to vaniis with them?--but 'tis no uncommon thing, my good Sancho, for one half of the world to use the other half of it like brutes, & then endeavor to make 'em so. (L. Sterne, Reply to Sancho)
Crazy Kate
There often wanders one, whom better days Saw better clad, in cloak of satin trimmed With lace, and hat with splendid ribband bound. A servingmaid was she, and fell in love With one who left her, went to sea, and died. Her fancy followed him through foaming waves To distant shores; and she would sit and weep At what a sailor suffers; fancy, too, Delusive most where warmest wishes are, Would oft anticipate his glad return, And dream of transports she was not to know. She heard the doleful tidings of his death-- And never smiled again! And now she roams The dreary waste; there spends the livelong day, And there, unless when charity forbids, The livelong night. (534-549)
Two Treatises
Thus, though looking back as far as records give us any account of peopling the world, and the history of nations, we commonly find the government to be in one hand; yet it destroys not that which I affirm, viz. That the beginning of politic society depends upon the consent of the individuals, to join into, and make one society; who, when they are thus incorporated, might set up what form of government they thought fit. But this having given occasion to men to mistake, and think that by nature government was monarchical, and belonged to the father; it may not be amiss here to consider, why people in the beginning generally pitched upon this form: which though perhaps the father's preeminency might, in the first institution of some commonwealth, give a rise to, and place in the beginning the power in one hand; yet it is plain that the reason that continued the form of government in a single person, was not any regard or respect to paternal authority; since all petty monarchies, that is, almost all monarchies, near this original, have been commonly, at least upon occasion, elective. (II, VIII, p. 146)
Two Treatises
Whosoever therefore out of a state of nature unite into a community, must be understood to give up all the power necessary to the ends for which they unite into society, to the majority of the community, unless they expressly agreed in any number greater than the majority. And this is done by barely agreeing to unite into once political society, which is all the compact that is, or needs be, between the individuals that enter into, or make up a commonwealth. (II, VIII, p. 143)
The Tyger, Songs of Experience
Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare sieze the fire? And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? What the hammer? What the chain, In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors clasp! When the stars threw down their spears And water'd heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Rule Britannia
When Britain first, at heaven's command, Arose from out the azure main This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sang this strain: "Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves." * * * * The Muses, still with freedom found, Shall to thy happy coast repair; Blest isle! With matchless beauty crowned, And manly hearts to guard the fair. "Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves." (1-6; 27-32)
Olaudah Equiano
When I recovered a little I found some black people about me, who I believe were some of those who brought me on board, and had been receiving their pay; they talked to me in order to cheer me, but all in vain. I asked them if we were not to be eaten by those white men with horrible looks, red faces, and loose hair. They told me I was not; and one of the crew brought me a small portion of spiritous liquor in a wine glass; but, being afraid of him, I would not take it out of his hand. One of the blacks therefore took it from him and gave it to me, and I took a little down my palate, which, instead of reviving me, as they thought it would, threw me into the greatest consternation at the strange feeling it produced, having never tasted any such liquor before. Soon after this the blacks who brought me on board went off, and left me abandoned to despair. I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the least glimpse of hope of gaining the shore, which I now considered as friendly; and I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my present situation, which was filled with hoors of every kind, still heightened by my ignorance of what I was to under go. I was not long suffered to indulge my grief; I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life; so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste any thing. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across I think the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. (2813)
Olaudah Equiano
When I went in I made my obeisance to my master, and with my money in my hand, and many fears in my heart, I prayed him to be as good as his offer to me, when he was pleased to promise me my freedom as soon as I could purchase it. This speech seemed to confound him; he began to recoil; and my heart that instant sank within me. "What," said he, "give you your freedom? Why, where did you get the money? Have you got forty pounds sterling?" "Yes, sir," I answered. "How did you get it?" replied he. I told him, very honestly, and with much industry, and that I was particularly careful. On which my master replied, I got money much faster than he did; and said he would not have made me the promise he did if he had thought I should have got money so soon. "Come, come," said my worthy Captain, clapping my master on the back, "Come, Robert" (which was his name), "I think you must let him have his freedom; you have laid your money out very well; you have received good interest for it all this time, and here is now the principal at last. I know Gustavus has earned you more than a hundred a-year, and he will still save you money, as he will not leave you:--Come, Robert, take the money." My master then said, he would not be worse for his promise; and, taking the money, told me to go to the Secretary at the Register Office, and get my manumission drawn up. These words of my master were like a voice from heaven to me; in an instant all my trepidation was turned into unutterable bliss; and I most reverently bowed myself with gratitude, unable to express my feelings, but by the overflowing of my eyes; while my true and worthy friend, the Captain, congratulated us both with a peculiar degree of heartfelt pleasure. (2820)
Tristram Shandy
When Tom, an' please your honor, got to the shop, there was nobody in it, but a poor negro girl, with a bunch of white feathers slightly tied to the end of a long cane, flapping away flies--not killing them.--'Tis a pretty picture! said my uncle Toby--she had suffered persecution, Trim, and had learnt mercy--- . . . A Negro has a soul? An' please your honor, said the Corporal (doubtingly). I am not much versed, Corporal, quoth my uncle Toby, in things of that kind, but I suppose, God would not leave him without one, any more than thee or me-- --It would be putting one sadly over the head of another, quoth the Corporal. It would so; said my uncle Toby. Why, then, an' please your honor, is a black wench to be used worse than a white one? I can give no reason, said my uncle Toby-- --Only, cried the Corporal, shaking his head, because she has no one to stand up for her-- (L. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, Vol. 9, Ch. 6)
The Chimney Sweeper, Songs of Innocence
When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue, Could scarcely cry weep weep weep weep. So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep. Theres little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head That curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd, so I said. Hush Tom never mind it, for when your head's bare, You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair. And so he was quiet, & that very night, As Tom was a sleeping he had such a sight, That thousands of sweepers Dick, Joe, Ned & Jack Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black, And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he open'd the coffins & set them all free. The down a green plain leaping laughing they run And was in a river and shine in the sun. Then naked & white, all their bags left behind, They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind. And the Angel told tom if he'd be a good boy, He'd have God for his father & never want joy. And so Tom awoke and we rose in the dark And got with our bags & our brushes to work. Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm, So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
A Pilgrim's Progress
Wherefore at length he brake his mind to his wife and children; and thus he began to talk to them. O my dear wife, said he, and you the children of my bowels, I your dear friend am in myself undone by reason of a burden that lieth hard upon me; moreover, I am for certain informed that this our city will be burned with fire from heaven, in which fearful overthrow both myself, with thee, my wife, and you, my sweet babes, shall miserably come to ruin, except (the which yet I see not) some way to escape can be found, whereby we may be delivered. At this the relations were sore amazed; not for that they believed that what he had said to them was true, but because they thought that some frenzy distemper had got into his head; therefore, it drawing towards night, and they hoping that sleep might settle his brains, with all haste they got him to bed; but the night was as troublesome to him as the day; wherefore, instead of sleeping, he spent it in sighs and tears. So when the morning was come, they would know how he did. He told them. Worse and worse; he also set to talking to them again, but they began to be hardened. They also thought to drive away his distemper by harsh and surly carriages to him; sometimes they would deride, sometimes they would chide, and sometimes they would quite neglect him.
The Voice of Ancient Bard, Songs of Experience
Youth of delight come hither: And see the opening morn, Image of truth new born. Doubt is fled & clouds of reason. Dark disputes & artful teazing. Folly is an endless maze, Tangled roots perplex her ways, How many have fallen there! They stumble all night over bones of the dead; And feel they know not what but care; And wish to lead others when they should be led.
