old by his father, abused by
his brother, and for years compelled to do the bidding of gamblers and
slave-speculators, how could he be expected to have very clear
perceptions of right and wrong? The circumstances of the case, however,
seem to render it rather probable that he really was impelled by the
motive which he assigned for his conduct. Mr. Darg declared that he had
previously considered him an honest and faithful servant; that he was in
the habit of trusting him with the key of his trunk, and frequently sent
him to it for money. The bank-bills he had purloined were placed in the
hands of two colored men in New-York, because, as he said, he could not
return them himself, but must necessarily employ somebody to do it for
him, in the intended process of negotiating for his freedom.

Friend Hopper, his son-in-law James S. Gibbons, and Barney Corse, were
very earnest to recover the money, for the best of reasons. In the first
place, they greatly desired to secure the manumission of the slave. In
the second place, the honesty of their characters led them to wish that
the master should recover what was his own. In both instances, they
wished to restore stolen property to the rightful owner; to Thomas
Hughes the free use of his own faculties and limbs, which had been
stolen from him, and to Mr. Darg the money that had been purloined from
him. It is not likely that the Southerner would have ever regained any
portion of the amount stolen, had it not been for their exertions. But,
by careful and judicious management, they soon recovered nearly six
thousand dollars, which was immediately placed in one of the principal
banks of the city, with a full statement of the circumstances of the
case to the cashier. Over one thousand more was heard of as having been
deposited with a colored man in Albany. Friend Hopper proposed that
Barney Corse should go in pursuit of it, accompanied by the colored man
who sent it there. He agreed to do so; but he deemed it prudent to have
a previous interview with Mr. Darg, to obtain his written promise to
manumit Thomas, to pay the necessary expenses of the journey, and to
exonerate from criminal prosecution any person or persons connected with
the robbery, provided that assurance proved necessary in order to get
possession of the money. All this being satisfactorily accomplished, he
went to Albany and brought back the sum said to have been deposited
there. Ten or fourteen hundred dollars were stil