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Show 300 TilE J,JlJJ:R'I'\' Ul•:LI •. Strange doctrine this, and criminal us strange! Or art thou Lut a quiblJlcr with thy words, Making a man of straw to knock it down ? The sovereignty of nations! 'Yell, what then'! 1\fny not their acts be questioned or denounced, By all on cru:th who deem them infamous 1 i\fay only Britons censure British crimes? If Patagouians feed on human flesh, Have we no right to shudder at the deed '? 'Vhnt of the sovereignty of free-born souls Their innate rights and just prerogatives? What sea or shore puts limits to their sway 't Uy every law of Nature and of God , Each one may circumnavigate the globe, Visit all lands, and, whcrcsoo'cr it finds System or practice, statuto or command, Or form of government however called, Whether hereditary or elect, That it in conscience judges to be wrong, Unjust, tyrannical, may raise its voice In solemn protest,- though in strange attire, 1'0 LOUIS 1\0SSUTII . Of foreign birth, in broken dialect, And boldly ndvocate "'1'111:: 111 0 111m uw"! 'Vhatevcr earthly power, combined in one Or many, nullifies this sacred rigllt, Or makes its exercise a felony, Is in its spirit cowardly and base, Stands self-convicted as most tyrannous. rl'he land that cannot tolerate free speech In every soul that treads upon its soil ; ~rhat for its institutions and its laws, Exemption clnims from foreign scrutiny, Branding it ns impertinent nncl rude, Not only makes disclosure of its shame, But indicates its conscious guiltiness. That land is om~, the guiltiest of all lands, And therefore the most sensitive and sore ! Most needing bold arraignment and reproof, Not fulsome I>ra.iso and sickening flattery. The climax of thy abjectness was reached, When ho who shared thy exile hither came, 26 301 |