He who espouses radical reform
Invites upon his head the gathering storm;
Each forward step from Custom's hackneyed school,
Draws forth the floods of scorn and ridicule;
Witness the dungeon, guillotine and rack,
Chains for the feet and scourges for the back;
Bestrewn with insult, diatribe and cuff,
The pathway of reform was ever rough;
And when reforms, as tidal waves have come,
The foremost breakers dash to martyrdom.