PREFACE
to the second edition.
Of these poems, the present publisher has never seen or heard of but one copy, which was recently obtained by Joshua Coffin, of this city, from a gentleman who met with it in Cincinnati a few years ago. The pamphlet is republished, without any alterations,—even verbal; except the insertion of the headline, "Poems by a slave," over the pages, and the omission of the title page, which ran as follows:
"The Hope of Liberty, containing a number of poetical pieces. By George M. Horton. Raleigh, printed by Gales & Son, 1829."
Observe 1st, That Gales, the printer of the pamphlet, is now one of the firm of Gales & Seaton, at Washington,—no abolitionist. 2nd, The publisher admits slavery to be "the lowest possible condition of human nature;" and that the slaves are not all happy, for George "felt deeply and sensitively." 3d, The man who could write such poems was kept for 32 years in "the lowest possible condition of
