nded with the spread of anti-slavery
organization, and was greatly encouraged and stimulated by the enactment
of the law of 1850.

The Underground Railroad was never coextensive with the abolition
movement. There were always abolitionists who disapproved the practice
of assisting fugitives, and others who took no part in it. Of those
who were active participants, the larger proportion confined their
activities to assisting those who had escaped and would take no part in
seeking to induce slaves to leave their masters. Efforts of that kind
were limited to a few individuals only.

Incidents drawn from the reminiscences of Levi Coffin, the reputed
president of the Underground Railroad, may serve to illustrate the
origin and growth of the system. He was seven years old when he first
saw near his home in North Carolina a coffle of slaves being driven to
the Southern market by a man on horseback with a long whip. "The driver
was some distance behind with the wagon. My father addressed the slaves
pleasantly and then asked, 'Well, boys, why do they chain you?' One
of the men whose countenance betrayed unusual intelligence and whose
expression denoted the deepest sadness replied: 'They have taken us from
our wives and children and they chain us lest we should make our escape
and go back to them."' When Coffin was fifteen, he rendered assistance
to a man in bondage. Having an opportunity to talk with the members of a
gang in the hands of a trader bound for the Southern market, he learned
that one of the company, named Stephen, was a freeman who had been
kidnapped and sold. Letters were written to Northern friends of Stephen
who confirmed his assertion. Money was raised in the Quaker meeting and
men were sent to recover the negro. Stephen was found in Georgia and
after six months was liberated.

During the year 1821 other incidents occurred in the Quaker community at
New Garden, near Greensboro, North Carolina, which illustrate different
phases of the subject. Jack Barnes was the slave of a bachelor who
became so greatly attached to his servant that he bequeathed to him
not only his freedom but also a large share of his property. Relatives
instituted measures to break the will, and Jack in alarm took refuge
among the Quakers at New Garden. The suit went against the negro, and
the newspapers contained advertisements offering a hundred dollars for
information which should result in his recovery. To prevent his return
to bondage,