Anti-slavery

A ca-o, nvolving tho nbdnction, ar.d subsequent recovery by purchaso, of a colored man. 27 years of i ge, nnd who, since hi eleventh yanr, lias restded in Darby, a few miles south-wost of Philndelphia, has occasionpd considerable excitement in that iisually quiet village.- Tho individual reforrod to, had been the propeity, so calkd, of a person living n Marytand, and, with bw tvvo sinters, and half-brother and sister, was ndvis.-d and aiJed to escape frora slavcry, by their mister's son, the goods of the masterbeing about to be lcvied apon and he prolabhj nssenting, though tacitly, to the escapo. The owner died soon aftpr.nnd, so Air as tho son was intererted, iherc h.-ul been a clear moral abandonment by him ofanyright which ho might otherwiw have had to the slaves. There were, however, one or more othcr hciis, whom the son in-law of the deceased repreeented. And 'ne, coming to know ofthe rcsidence of the fugitives, and ofthe high estesm :n whi;ii ihey were held for their thrif'iness and general good condurt.which qualiti-js wojU ba suro to makc them bring great prices, determined, though after so long an interval, to recover them back inlo bondage. Too much doubt as to the legal claim, probably existed, to odventuro npon any open, reguiar procesa for nccomplishiriT itaia pui pose in Pennsylvania; subterfuge had therefore to be resorted lo. There is reason to suspect that a man, slightly colored, who had recontly come into these parts, and mado himself intímate with the fugitive lamily, was employed as the vile ngent to dpcny them to Baltimoro. He had niarried the eldest sis! er, and wos intending to tako her With him tothntcity in a fe%v days, probably with the purpose of surretldering her to her claimant; and was certair.ly the instrument, or the looi, ofthe abduciion of the brother. He introduced to the young man, a person, Bppareñtly a gentleman, whom ho professed to have f.-rmcrly lived with, and whom he reeommended in the highest lerms, who was sceking nn active, intelligent servant to take with him to his residence in Ohio, and who would give to such a servant the ternpting sura of fifiecn dollars per month, all expenses besiJes, and Uventy dollars in hand. The bait was successful and Allen, with his new employer, took his departure in the cars for York, Pennsylvanin, whore the latter alledgej that he had business to transact, whence they were to proceed, by nther conveynnce, viaChambersburg to Pittsburg. At York, the new mastor expresscd great disnppointment al not meeting the person lie expectod to find there, and said thry must go on to Purkersburg, v.-here the pereon lived; and ihey could tliencc proceed next inoming by the caw to Chambersburg. Immediately upon theirarriv.nl at Parkersburg, which was in Maryland, a high functionary of the great City of Baltimore, arrested Allen, asserting that ir.formation had just come on by telograph that he, with his cffmpanion, had been perpetrating a robbery in Philadelphia, and that he must take him hack in thatcily for trial. Allen's protest of innocencf, and a st'ttempnt ofhis residence and of his purpose in travelling were disregarded, and chains and bandcuffs were nt once fasiened to and upon him - the pseudo-master f rom thnt instant disappearing. Allen soon found himself rapidly procepding with the cars, nnder care of t'e ofrlcers; supposing for a while they wero returning to Philadelphia, as the offiefs had said, till at length a pnssenger, to his great horror, advised him that they were on a direct route lo Baltimore. Not, still, suspecting any othcr charge than that of theft, which ho feit that he could readily rebut, he expresed 10 the officer his desire tobe put into a public prison, there to await his trial, which was as.cented to. Arrived ai Baltimora, he was placed in a hack, drivn rapidly to a building of ppuliar structure, into which he was hu r ried. When within its inclosure he inquired, "is this a public prison1?" Tho answer was, " No, 11 is the Georgia pen!" "I feit, at the moment," i'aid Allen, "as if I was in the midst of the great ocean, without a friend or plank to rest upon!" He was thrn interrogated as to being a lave, of which, without his confnssion, no proof could be given, as even the claimant vt.s unable torecognize in tho vigorous man the abüconding slender boy. This confossion he refuscd to makc. Flogging. by means of that well known instrument of slave-torture - the paddie- was then resorted to in order to compelí it. He bore, for a while, tlio cruel nfliction unlH poor huinanity could no longer endure t lie agony, and was nndc ready tononfess to anylhing, true or false. He then yiekled an Mwnt to evcry quesllon they put tohim. It a the confesïiöB ol'tlie inquisilion! Anii it wasupon this confession that hls clnimnntdonmd him to be sliippe'l to New Orleane, under hc frce flrig of the Uniicd Stales, of Ainerica, lo be solcl for n slave' Wliile these proceeding were going on In the prison-hbuse, and tlie time and mannefofthe prisoner1 depanure was heilig arranged, Proviiience was direcling a counter movement. Thora was, at leas', one concernedj obèörver of the scpnesin thn cars, and he look mea-njreh, witli as liltle debiy as possïble, tosend tidir.gs lo some good friends oftlieabJucted man. One of ihcm went on inimediotely to Baliimore, and, arrijng there, inslantly proceedeii to ihe prison where the prisoner was expected to bR found. He smv the keeper of' it, a man hor.o&t in his way, and alwnys honorable in the fulfillineiit of a bargain, and he succeeded in making with hiin a contract fur the delivery ofthesluve, npon payment of by a given dav, some six or cight days ahead, of eiglit hundred doll.us; ons thoii.saini dullars being consiciereJ his New-Orleans price. Tlie time was brief, but tho pcople p ured out their money '.ike wai'ter, and Allpn was redeemed; but not until after he had undergone a new cotirse of flngellation, to eztort some desired revelations from hiin in regard to the mannor in which the ItnowleHgo of his nonfinement had reached Darby. It was even more severe than the first, but nothing new to the inqnibiters was elicited hy it. lio was restored to hú home nnd fnends nn the 24t!i ultitno,theday preceding to he saiüngof the N. O. nacket, in whiclilie was lo have bren shipped, had not the arrangement for his pucchase heen consiimmated. During his confinement of nenrly two weeks, his feet were chüined together by henvy fetters nround the ankles; and wlien the paddle was appliei', in nddition to his leg-irons, ho as hnndc;ufled, and obliged to lie down in order to receive the lieating. The village of Darhy has been raiher celebraied íbr an nnwillingness to listen to Anti-Slavery Lectures. An Anti-Slavery Lecture, somewhat costly, has,however, been pressed upon its people by tiiese events, to which they have given an nttenlive ear, nnd which has reached to thelr irimoít feelings, where it has lefi a deep, an indelible improssion. Never was the long tvhip of Slavery so near their firrsiije before flereafier, when SDtne S'gnnl act of beneficence in behnll oftheslave s'iall distinguish that villogp, the'feelings prrmpting it will be traced back to those which wère excited br the wrongs and sufferings perpetrated upon Allen Ricketts.