et him away some way or
other on the day of trial. His case caused great excitement. We attended
the trial, and eagerly watched all the movements from an outside
position, and had a man to tell us how proceedings were going on within.
He finally came out and said that the case would go against Dorsey. We
then formed in a column at the court-house door, and when the
slaveholders and Dorsey came out, we walked close to them,--behind and
around them,--trying to separate them from him. Before we had gone far
towards the jail, a slaveholder drew a pistol on Williams Hopkins, one
of our party. Hopkins defied him to shoot; but he did not. Then the
slaveholder drew the pistol on me, saying, he would blow my black brains
out, if I did not go away. I doubled my fists to knock him down, but
some person behind caught my hand; this started a fracas, and we got
Dorsey loose; but he was so confused that he stood stock still, until
they tied him again. A general fight followed. Bricks, stones, and
sticks fell in showers. We fought across the road and back again, and I
thought our brains would be knocked out; when the whites, who were too
numerous for us, commenced making arrests. They got me fast several
times, but I succeeded in getting away. One of our men was arrested, and
afterwards stood trial; but they did not convict him. Dorsey was put
into jail, but was afterwards bought and liberated by friends.

My friends now said that I had got myself into a bad difficulty, and
that my arrest would follow. In this they were mistaken. I never was
disturbed because of it, nor was the house at which I lodged ever
searched, although the neighbors were repeatedly annoyed in that way. I
distinctly remember that this was the second time that resistance had
been made to their wicked deeds. Whether the kidnappers were clothed
with legal authority or not, I did not care to inquire, as I never had
faith in nor respect for the Fugitive-Slave Law.

The whites of that region were generally such negro-haters, that it was
a matter of no moment to them where fugitives were carried,--whether to
Lancaster, Harrisburg, or elsewhere.

The insolent and overbearing conduct of the Southerners, when on such
errands to Pennsylvania, forced me to my course of action. They did not
hesitate to break open doors, and to enter, without ceremony, the houses
of colored men; and when refused admission, or when a manly and
determined spirit was shown, they would present pi