the wretched thrall Of bitter-dropping sweat, of sweltry pain, Of cares that eat away thy heart with gall, And of the vices, an inhuman train, That all proceed from savage thirst of gain: For when hard-hearted Interest first began To poison earth, Astraea left the plain; Guile, violence, and murder seized on man, And, for soft milky streams, with blood the rivers ran.' He ceased.