remarked that the hour, of which the claimant had been apprized, had already arrived; no evidence had been brought that the man was a slave; on the contrary, Dr. Rush’s certificate was strong presumptive evidence of his being a freeman; he therefore demanded that the prisoner should be discharged.  Justice Bird, having no desire to throw obstacles in the way, promptly told Ben he was at liberty, and he lost no time in profiting by the information.  Just as he passed out of the door, he saw his master coming, and ran full speed.  He had sufficient presence of mind to take a zigzag course, and running through a house occupied by colored people, he succeeded in eluding pursuit.

When Friend Hopper went home, he found him at his house.  He tried to impress upon his mind the peril he would incur by remaining in Philadelphia, and advised him by all means to go to sea.  But his wife was strongly attached to him, and so unwilling to consent to this plan, that he concluded to run the risk of staying with her.  He remained concealed about a week, and then returned to the house he had previously occupied.  They lived in the second story, and there was a shed under their bed-room window.  Ben placed a ladder under the window, to be ready for escape; but it was so short, that it did not reach the roof of the shed by five or six feet.  His wife was an industrious, orderly woman, and kept their rooms as neat as a bee-hive.  The only thing which marred their happiness was the continual dread that man-hunters might pounce upon them, in some unguarded hour, and separate them forever.  About a fortnight after his arrest, they were sitting together in the dusk of the evening, when the door was suddenly burst open, and his master rushed in with a constable.  Ben sprang out of the window, down the ladder, and made his escape.  His master and the constable followed; but as soon as they were on the ladder, Ben’s wife cut the cord that held it, and they tumbled heels over head upon the shed.  This bruised them some, and frightened them still more.  They scrambled upon their feet, cursing at a round rate.

Ben arrived safely at the house of Isaac T. Hopper, who induced him to quit the city immediately, and go to sea.  His first voyage was to the East Indies.  While he was gone, Friend Hopper negotiated with the master, who, finding there was little chance of regaining his slave, agreed to manumit him for one hundred and fifty dollars.  As soon as Ben returned, he repaid from his wages the sum which had been advanced for his ransom.  His wife’s health was greatly impaired by the fear and anxiety she had endured on his account.  She became a prey to melancholy, and never recovered her former cheerfulness.

THOMAS COOPER.

The person who assumed this name was called Notly, when he was a slave in Maryland.  He was compelled to labor very hard, was scantily supplied with food and clothing, and lodged in a little ricketty hut, through which the cold winds of winter whistled freely.  He was of a very religious turn of mind, and often, when alone in his little cabin at midnight, he prayed earnestly to God to release him from his sufferings.