The RIGHTS of MAN, FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE YEAR 1783,
[]Tune, "The Babes in the Wood."
ALL you who wonder at the Times
That they ſo hard do grow,
Come hither, liſten unto me,
And you the Cauſe ſhall know.
O Muſes, your Aſſiſtance lend,
While ſuch Things I rehearſe,
As neither Gooſe nor Eagle's Wing
E'er wrote in Proſe or Verſe.
Man nothing leſs than Lord was made,
For nothing leſs was meant;
That all Things elſe he ſhould ſubdue
He to the World was ſent.
But not content with this large Sway
Their Brethren Men ſubdue;
And all the Godlike Race is made
Subſervient to a Few.
O Earth and Heaven and all therein
Your Wonder high expreſs,
That rational Beings like dumb Brutes,
Ought earthly ſhould depreſs!
Yet ſo it is that worſe than they,
Nought nat'ral they can claim,
Nor Hip, nor Haw, nor Nut, nor Sloe,
Nor ought that you can name.
If Graſs or Nettles they could eat
The ſame would be deny'd;
For my Lord's Land and Herbage reach
Cloſe to the Highway Side.
'A Hare or Partridge they may dreſs,
They're Nature's common gift;'
My Lord's Ground fed them, why ſhould he
Of his RIGHTS be bereft?
'To fiſh then you will them allow;
The River's not my Lord's.'
Do not miſtake, the Water's his,
And all that it affords.
To fiſh or hunt they have no Right,
Since they no Land can claim;
Whatever lives be it great or ſmall,
The Land ſupports the ſame.
So they muſt work to other Men
Whether they will or no;
For idle up and down the World
No Landleſs Men muſt go.
For why, in Truth, they cannot live
On Air or the Highway;
Treſſpaſs they muſt then on the Graſs,
If ſuffer'd thus to ſtray.
And yet no Laws are made that ſo,
The Rich them Work may give;
But when they've ſerv'd their Turn on them
They care not how they live.
So worſe than Horſe or Oxen thus
Is their unhappy Lot;
For Horſe and Oxen they maintain,
Whether they work or not.
Their Wages too by Law they ſtint,
As Men, their Labour too,
Should have no Right, as beſt they can,
To ſell to that Vile Crew.
But not ſo with their ill got Lands
Do they themſelves confine,
As much as they can get's the Rule
By which they let the ſame.
Like Tygers lurking for their Prey
So on the Watch they keep,
Leſt Tenants they by any Means
Their Labours' Fruits ſhould reap.
If only Sixpence more they think
The Tenant he can pay,
As ſoon as e'er his Leaſe is out
The ſame on him they lay.
Like hungry Hawks the Farmers then
Are forc'd with Hearts full ſore,
The Poor at Market hard to gripe,
To ſtop the Landlord's Roar.
If backwards in their Rents they run
Indulgence they find ſmall,
Their Lord does like a rav'ning Wolf,
On Goods and Cattle fall.
The Landlords what they thus have reav'd
In other Lands do ſpend;
And while we've Landlords Things will worſe,
But never once will mend.
O! there's a Land, as I hear ſay,
Where Landlords none there be!
O! Heavens! might I that happy Land
Before I die but ſee.
The Rents throughout that happy State
Each Pariſh deals ſo fair,
That every Houſholder therein
Does get an EQUAL SHARE.*
Of equal Shares of Land or Goods
They never once do dream;
But in each Pariſh, part the Rents:
Which better far they deem.
As all the World belongs to all,
So does a Land to thoſe
That dwell therein, the Likeneſs then
Down to a Pariſh goes.
So by this ſimple RULE OF RIGHT,
All Things in Order move,
In Church and State 'mongſt Rich and Poor
All's Harmony and Love.
For as the Poor their nat'ral Rights,
And Lordſhips thus enjoy,
The Rich unenvy'd live in Peace,
None wiſh them to annoy.
Then Lord have Mercy on all Lands,
This happy Change ſoon bring,
That, Brethren-like, Men may divide
Their Rents, and gladly ſing.
So if by Sickneſs or Miſchance
To Poverty ſome wane,
Their Dividend of Rents will come
To ſet them up again.
Ye Prieſts and Lawyers, who Men's RIGHTS
Gloſs o'er deceitfully,
Our Common Claim to Rents will ſtand
'Gainſt all your Sophiſtry.
Appendix A
Printed for T. SPENCE, Bookſeller, No. 8, Little Turnſtile, Holborn.
Notes
*
The Meaning of this is, That after the whole Amount of the Rents are collected in a Pariſh from every Perſon, according to the full Value of the Premiſes which they occupy, ſo much per Pound, according to Act of Parliament, ought to be ſet apart for Support of the State inſtead of all Taxes; that another Sum ſhould next be deducted for Support of the Pariſh Eſtabliſhment, inſtead of Tolls, Tythes, Rates, Ceſſes, &c. &c. &c. after which the Remainder belongs equally to all the ſettled Inhabitants, whether Rich or Poor, and ought to be divided equally among them.
- Zitationsvorschlag für dieses Objekt
- TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 4129 The rights of man first published in the year 1783. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-58AC-0