By Solomon NorthupNarrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, from a Cotton Plantation near the Red River in Louisiana.Published: 1853DEDICATIONTOHARRIET BEECHER STOWE:WHOSE NAME,THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, IS IDENTIFIED WITH THEGREAT REFORM:THIS NARRATIVE, AFFORDING ANOTHERKey to Uncle Tom's Cabin,IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED"Such dupes are men to custom, and so proneTo reverence what is ancient, and can pleadA 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 shockOf rational discussion, that a manCompounded and made up, like other men,Of elements tumultuous, in whom lustAnd folly in as ample measure meet,As in the bosom of the slave he rules,Should be a despot absolute, and boastHimself the only freeman of his land?"--Cowper.