l wanting to complete
the amount, which Mr. Darg said he had lost; but they had hopes of
obtaining that also, by confronting various individuals, who had become
involved with this complicated affair. Meanwhile, Barney Corse and
James S. Gibbons called upon Mr. Darg to inform him of the amount
recovered and safely deposited in the bank, and to pay him the sum
brought from Albany. Instead of giving the deed of manumission, which
had been his own voluntary offer at the outset, and which he knew had
been the impelling motive to exertion, Mr. Darg had two police-officers
in an adjoining room to arrest Barney Corse for having stolen money in
his possession. He was of course astonished at such an ungrateful return
for his services, but at once expressed his readiness to go before any
magistrate that might be named.

It would not be easy to give an adequate idea of the storm of
persecution that followed. Popular prejudice against abolitionists was
then raging with uncommon fury; and police-officers and editors availed
themselves of it to the utmost to excite hostility against individuals,
who had been actuated by a kind motive, and who had proceeded with
perfect openness throughout the whole affair. The newspapers of the city
were pro-slavery, almost without exception. The idea of sending
abolitionists to the State Prison was a glorious prospect, over which
they exulted mightily. They represented that Thomas had been enticed
from his master by these pretended philanthropists, who had advised him
to steal the money, as a cunning mode of obtaining manumission. As for
the accused, all they asked was a speedy and thorough investigation of
their conduct. The case was however postponed from week to week, and
offers were made meanwhile to compromise the matter, if Barney Corse
would pay the balance of the lost money. He had wealthy connexions, and
perhaps the prosecutors hoped to extort money from them, to avoid the
disgrace of a trial. But Barney Corse was far from wishing to avoid a
trial.

At this juncture of affairs, Friend Hopper took a step, which raised a
great clamor among his enemies, and puzzled some of his friends at the
time, because they did not understand his motives. He sued Mr. Darg for
the promised reward of one thousand dollars. He had several reasons for
this proceeding. In the first place, the newspapers continually pointed
him out as a man over whose head a criminal prosecution was pending;
while he had at the s