The Force of Prejudice

Once on a time, or story lies,
A deity forsook the skies;
And rambling, curious, up and down,
Enter'd, at length, an Afric town!
Where liv'd a tribe of mortals black,
With each a hump upon his back;
A burthen common to the nation
Thro' each such successive generation.

The comely god, well-shap'd and fair,
March'd forward with a graceful air;
While, gathering round, the gaping throng
Wonder'd, and hooted him along.
This gave a kick, and that a thump;
All crying, Where's the fellow's hump?
The females too, among the rest,
Their detestation loud express'd;
While luscious jokes were cut and crack'd,
To see a man so slender back'd;
Eager each flirt to have a fling,
At such a pale fac'd ugly thing.
Nay, heav'n knows where their taunts had ended,
If fate the god had not befriended.
But so, it chanc'd, a sober sage
Advanc'd, rever'd for sense and age;
Made wise by time and observation,
His knowledge glean'd from ev'ry nation:
He whites had seen, as well as blacks,
No mountains bearing on their backs;
And knew, from reasons consequential,
Colour and form were not essential.
Yet still too wise to call in doubt
The wisdom of the rabble rout:
He thus, the stranger to protect,
Address'd the mob with due respect.
"O give, my friends, your insults o'
"Nor vex this hapless creature more:
"What tho' before our eyes we see
"A lump of fair deformity;
"Not e'en a mole-hill on his shoulder,
"To captivate one black beholder;
"But like an unshap'd log he stands,
"Unfinish'd left by nature's hands;
"Yet mock him not, in cruel pride,
"For wanting what the gods deny'd:
"'Tis affectation makes the fool;
"No object this of ridicule.
"It might have been your fate or mine,
"To want the human hump divine;
And each of us, an ugly sight,
Might have flat-shoulder'd been, and white:
If therefore heav'n, to us so kind,
Gives the protuberance behind,
Thanks to the gods with fervour pay,
But send this wretch unhurt away."

The mob, on ev'ry word intent,
With some few murmurings gave consent;
When now the sage the god address'd,
And thus dismiss'd the injur'd guest.

"On earth a welcome wouldst thou find,
"Go hence, and learn to know mankind.
"In other lands thy form and face
"May challenge comeliness and grace;
"But here to beauty are we blind,
"If wanting of a hump behind.
"Thus ev'ry nation, ev'ry tribe,
"Peculiar sentiments imbibe;
"And beauty, virtue, sense, lay claim
"To little more than empty name;
"Varied in every clime and nation,
"As suits the general situation.
"Hence, judging each by diff'rent rules,
"They think each other knaves or fools;
"While no defect or vice is known,
"Unless it differ from their own.
"To turn the shafts of scorn aside,
"Then take this maxim for your guide:
"Go where you will, be sure to wear
"The gen'ral hump the people bear:
"He's ne'er accounted fool or rogue,
"Whose vice or folly is in vogue."