Page:The Emigrants.pdf/51



And who, with hireling ruffians leagu'd, has burst The laws of Nature and Humanity! Wading, beneath the Patriot's specious mask, And in Equality's illusive name, To empire thro' a stream of kindred blood­— Innocent prisoner!­—most unhappy heir Of fatal greatness, who art suffering now For all the crimes and follies of thy race; Better for thee, if o'er thy baby brow The regal mischief never had been held: Then, in an humble sphere, perhaps content, Thou hadst been free and joyous on the heights Of Pyrennean mountains, shagg'd with woods Of chesnut, pine, and oak: as on these hills Is yonder little thoughtless shepherd lad, Who, on the slope abrupt of downy turf