Despite my strong support for eating, wearing, using, and experimenting on animals, I quite enjoyed The MOUSE's PETITION,* To Doctor PRIESTLEY, written in 1773. Excerpt:
OH ! hear a pensive captive's prayer, For liberty that sighs ; And never let thine heart be shut Against the prisoner's cries.For here forlorn and sad I sit,
Within the wiry grate ;
And tremble at th' approaching morn,
Which brings impending fate.If e'er thy breast with freedom glow'd,
And spurn'd a tyrant's chain,
Let not thy strong oppressive force
A free-born mouse detain. ...The chearful light, the vital air,
Are blessings widely given ;
Let nature's commoners enjoy
The common gifts of heaven.The well taught philosophic mind
To all compassion gives ;
Casts round the world an equal eye,
And feels for all that lives.
See here for the story behind Anna Barbauld's poem and the scientist Joseph Priestley.
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