Charles was shrewd and intelligent, and conducted himself in such a manner as to gain respect.  He married an industrious, economical woman, who served in the family of Chief Justice Tilghman.  In process of time, he built a neat two-story house, where they brought up reputably a family of fourteen children, who obtained quite a good education at the school established by Anthony Benezet.

BEN JACKSON.

Ben was born a slave in Virginia.  When he was about sixteen years old, his mind became excited on the subject of slavery.  He could not reconcile it with the justice and goodness of the Creator, that one man should be born to toil for another without wages, to be driven about, and treated like a beast of the field.  The older he grew, the more heavily did these considerations press upon him.  At last, when he was about twenty-five years old, he resolved to gain his liberty, if possible.  He left his master, and after encountering many difficulties, arrived in Philadelphia, where he let himself on board a vessel and went several voyages.  When he was thirty years of age, he married, and was employed as a coachman by Dr. Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  He lived with him two years; and when he left, Dr. Rush gave him a paper certifying that he was a free man, honest, sober, and capable.

In 1799, his master came to Philadelphia, and arrested him as his fugitive slave.  Ben had an extraordinary degree of intelligence and tact.  When his master brought him before a magistrate, and demanded the usual certificate to authorize him to take his human chattel back to Virginia, Ben neither admitted nor denied that he was a slave.  He merely showed the certificate of Dr. Rush, and requested that Isaac T. Hopper might be informed of his situation.  Joseph Bird, the justice before whom the case was brought, detested slavery, and was a sincere friend to the colored people.  He committed Ben to prison until morning, and despatched a note to Isaac T. Hopper informing him of the circumstance, and requesting him to call upon Dr. Rush.  When the doctor was questioned, he said he knew nothing about Ben’s early history; he lived with him two years, and was then a free man.

When Friend Hopper went to the prison, he found Ben in a state of great anxiety and distress.  He admitted that he was the slave of the man who claimed him, and that he saw no way of escape open for him.  His friend told him not to be discouraged, and promised to exert himself to the utmost in his behalf.  The constable who had arrested him, sympathized with the poor victim of oppression, and promised to do what he could for him.  Finding him in such a humane mood, Friend Hopper urged him to bring Ben to the magistrate’s office a short time before the hour appointed for the trial.  He did so, and found Friend Hopper already there, watching the clock.  The moment the hand pointed to nine, he