HATCHIE, THE GUARDIAN SLAVE; OR, THE HEIRESS OF BELLEVUE. A Tale of the Mississippi and the South-west.
BYWARREN T. ASHTON.
"Here is a man, setting his fate aside, Of comely virtues." SHAKSPEARE. "Is this the daughter of a slave?" KNOWLES.BOSTON: B. B. MUSSEY AND COMPANY, AND R. B. FITTS AND COMPANY. 1853.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by R. B. FITTS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Stereotyped by HOBART & ROBBINS, BOSTON.
INTRODUCTION.
IN the summer of 1848 the author of the following tale was a passenger on board a steamboat from New Orleans to Cincinnati. During the passage—one of the most prolonged and uncomfortable in the annals of western river navigation—the plot of this story was arranged. Many of its incidents, and all its descriptions of steamboat life, will be recognized by the voyager of the Mississippi.
The tale was written before the appearance of "Uncle Tom's Cabin,"—before negro literature had become a mania in the community. It was not designed to illustrate the evils or the blessings of slavery. It is, as its title-page imports, a tale; and the author has not stepped out of his path to moralize upon Southern institutions, or any other extraneous topic. But, as its locale is the South, and its principal character a slave, the story incidentally portrays some features of slavery.
With these explanations, the author submits the tale to the public, hoping the reader will derive some portion of the pleasure from its perusal which he experienced in its preparation.
