These slaves I now possess are mine,
Sanction'd by laws of earth and Heaven.
We thank Thee, gracious power divine,
That unto us this boon is given.

In Scripture thou hast bidden us make
Slaves of the heathen and the stranger;
And if we heathen people take,
There is no harm, and much less danger.

Slav'ry's a system that's ordain'd
On earth to be, and to us given;
This can be read in language plain,
And thus we thank Thee, Lord in heaven,

That, in Thy wisdom, Thou mad'st us
The instruments to show Thy power,
And thus fulfil on them the curse
Of 'Cain,' nay 'Ham,' until this hour!

What care we for the Northern fool,
Who talks about the rights of niggers?
We know that we were made to rule,
And they ordain'd to be the diggers.

Besides, it can be seen at sight,
Our slaves, if freed, would turn out lazy;
And if the 'fanatics' are right,
The Scriptures' wrong, or we are crazy.

It says, old Abraham held slaves,
And Paul sent back Onesimus:
Those patr'archs would spring from their graves
To hear the prate of Abolition'sts!

They say, 'Great Britain has set free
Some few of her poor, lazy creatures!'
But if they'd just reflect, they'd see
They've missed the mark by many figures.

For who will cultivate the soil,
Or plant their sugar-cane and cotton?
Their niggers now are freed from toil,
And soon their ills will be forgotten.

Then hold on, brethren of the South—
They tell me Abolition 's dying:
This cry 's in almost ev'ry mouth,
Unless you think the rascal 's lying.

Whether or not, this corner-stone
Of our Republic shall not crumble;
Our laws and 'niggers' are our own,
So let the poor 'fanatics' grumble!