West India Emancipation

July 22, 1842

Here is a hymn, written by Garrison, A Hymn for the First of August, West India Emancipation:

 Here is only the first verse:

 “Lo! The bondage of ages has ceased!
     The chains of the tyrant are riven!
 No more as chattel or beast,
     Shall to his labor be driven: —
 Where the groans and the shrieks of despair
     From heart-broken victims are heard,
 Songs of rapturous joy fill the air,
     More sweet the notes of a bird!