Prayer of the Abolitionist

We ask not that the slave should lie,
As lies his master, at his ease,
Beneath a silken canopy,
Or in the shade of blooming trees.
We mourn not that the man should toil;
'T is nature's need—'t is God's decree;
But, let the hand that tills the soil,
Be, like the wind that fans it, free.
We ask not 'eye for eye'—that all,
Who forge the chain and ply the whip,
Should feel their torture—that the thrall
Should wield the scourge of mastership—
We only ask, O God, that they,
Who bind a brother, may relent:
But, GREAT AVENGER, we do pray
That the wrong-doer may repent.