And I conclude it with an expression of the hope that it may afford interest to the reader, support to the author in his efforts against slavery, and be instrumental in advancing the great work of emancipation in this country.
LUCIUS C.MATLACK.
NEW YORK CITY, _July 1st, 1849_.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
This work has been written during irregular intervals, while I have been travelling and laboring for the emancipation of my enslaved countrymen.

The reader will remember that I make no pretension to literature; for I can truly say, that I have been educated in the school of adversity, whips, and chains.

Experience and observation have been my principal teachers, with the exception of three weeks schooling which I have had the good fortune to receive since my escape from the "grave yard of the mind," or the dark prison of human bondage.

And nothing but untiring perseverance has enabled me to prepare this volume for the public eye; and I trust by the aid of Divine Providence to be able to make it intelligible and instructive.
I thank God for the blessings of Liberty--the contrast is truly great between freedom and slavery.

To be changed from a chattel to a human being, is no light matter, though the process with myself practically was very simple.