第2章 TO HARRIET BEECHER STOWE

WHOSE NAME,THROUGHOUT THE WORLD,IS IDENTIFIED WITH THE GREAT REFORM:THIS NARRATIVE,AFFORDING ANOTHER KEY TO Uncle Tom's Cabin,IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

"Such dupes are men to custom,and so prone

To reverence what is ancient,and can plead

A course of long observance for its use,

That even servitude,the worst of ills,

Because delivered down from sire to son,

Is kept and guarded as a sacred thing.

But is it fit,or can it bear the shock

Of rational discussion,that a man

Compounded and made up,like other men,

Of elements tumultuous,in whom lust

And folly in as ample measure meet,

As in the bosom of the slave he rules,

Should be a despot absolute,and boast

Himself the only freeman of his land?"

—Cowper.