Rage could do nothing in the presence of such imperturbable calmness; and Ennells consented to go with them to the magistrate.  On the way, he quarrelled with one of the constables, and gave him a severe blow on the face with his cane.  The officer knocked him down, and would have repeated the blow, if Friend Hopper had not interfered.  Assisting Ennells to rise, he said, “Thou hadst better take my arm and walk with me.  I think we can agree better.”

When the transaction had been investigated before a magistrate, Mr. Ennells was bound over to appear at the next mayor’s court and answer to the charge against him.  The proprietor of the hotel where he lodged became his bail.  Meanwhile, numerous letters came from people of the first respectability in Maryland and Virginia, testifying to his good character.  His lawyer showed these letters to Friend Hopper, and proposed that the prosecution should be abandoned.  He replied that he had no authority to act in the matter himself; but he knew the Abolition Society had commenced the prosecution from no vindictive feelings, but merely with the view of teaching people to be careful how they infringed on the rights of free men.  The committee of that society met the same evening, and agreed to dismiss the suit, Mr. Ennells paying the costs; to which he readily assented.

LEVIN SMITH.

Levin was a slave in Maryland.  He married a free woman and had several children.  In 1802, his master sold him to a speculator, who was in the habit of buying slaves for the Southern market.  His purchaser took him to his farm in Delaware, and kept him at work till he could get a profitable chance to sell him.  His new master was a desperate fellow, and Levin was uneasy with the constant liability of being sold to the far South.  He opened his heart to a neighbor, who advised him to escape, and gave him a letter to Isaac T. Hopper.  His wife and children had removed to Philadelphia, and there he rejoined them.  She took in washing, and he supported himself by sawing wood.  He had been there little more than a month, when his master heard where he was, and bargained with the captain of a small sloop to catch him and bring him back to Delaware.

The plan was to seize Levin in his bed, hurry him on board the sloop, and start off immediately, before his family could have time to give the alarm.  They would probably have succeeded in this project, if the captain had not drank a little too freely the evening previous, and so forgotten to get some goods on board, as he had promised.  Levin was seized and carried off; but the sloop was obliged to wait for the goods, and in the meantime messengers were sent to Isaac T. Hopper.  He was in bed, but sprang up the instant he heard a violent knocking at the door.  In his haste, he thrust on an old rough coat and hat, which he was accustomed to wear to fires; for, in addition to his various other employments, he belonged