years of freedom.

The present edition embraces a considerable amount of new matter, having
a bearing on the condition of the cotton question, and a few other
points of public interest. Several new Statistical Tables have been
added to the appendix, that are necessary to the illustration of the
topics discussed; and some historical matter also, in illustration of
the early history of slavery in the United States.

CINCINNATI, JANUARY 1, 1860.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

"COTTON IS KING" has been received, generally, with much favor by the
public. The author's name having been withheld, the book was left to
stand or fall upon its own merits. The first edition has been sold
without any special effort on the part of the publishers. As they did
not risk the cost of stereotyping, the work has been left open for
revision and enlargement. No change in the matter of the first edition
has been made, except a few verbal alterations and the addition of some
qualifying phrases. Two short paragraphs only have been omitted, so as
to leave the public documents and abolitionists, only, to testify as to
the moral condition of the free colored people. The matter added to the
present volume equals nearly one-fourth of the work. It relates mainly
to two points: _First_, The condition of the free colored people;
_Second_, The economical and political relations of slavery. The facts
given, it is believed, will completely fortify all the positions of the
author, on these questions, so far as his views have been assailed.

The field of investigation embraced in the book is a broad one, and the
sources of information from which its facts are derived are accessible
to but few. It is not surprising, then, that strangers to these facts,
on first seeing them arranged in their philosophical relations and
logical connection, should be startled at their import, and misconceive
the object and motives of the author.

For example: One reviewer, in noticing the first edition, asserts that
the writer "endeavors to prove that slavery is a great blessing in its
relations to agriculture, manufactures, and commerce." The candid reader
will be unable to find any thing, in the pages of the work, to justify
such an assertion. The author has proved that the products of slave
labor are in such universal demand, through the channels named by the
reviewer, that it is impracticable, in the existing condition of the
world, to overthrow the system; a