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| 342 THE UNDERGROUND RAIL ROAD. •flogged. His reflections and his stout heart enabled him to endure five weeks of severe suffering while fleeing from oppression. Of course, when he did succeed, the triumph was unspeakably joyous. Doubtless, he had thought a great deal during this time, and being an intelligent fugitive, he interested the Committee greatly. The man that he escaped from vras called William Elliott, a farmer, living in Prince George's county, Md. William Elliott claimed the right to flog and used it too. William, however, gave him the character of being among the moderate slave-holders of that part of the country. This \ras certainly a charitable view. William was of a chestnut color, -well made, and would have commanded, under the " hammer," a high price, if his apparent intelligence had not damaged him. He loft his father, grand-mother, four sisters and two brothers, all living where he fled from. CHARLES HESRY BROWN. This " chattel " was owned by Dr. Richard Dorsey, of Cambridge, Maryland. Up to twenty-seven years of age, he had experienced and observed how slaves were treated in his neighborhood, and lie made up his mind that he was not in i'avor of the Institution in any form whatever. Indeed he felt, that for a man to put his hand in his neighbor's pocket and rob him, was nothing compared to the taking of a man's hard earnings from year to year. Really Charles reasoned the case so well, in his uncultured country phrases, that the Committee was rather surprised, and admired his spirit in escaping. He was a niau of uot quite medium size, with marked features of mind and character. OLIVER PCRNELT, and ISAAC FIDGET arrived from Berlin, Md. Each bad different owners. Oliver stated that Mose Purnell bad owned him, and that ho was a tolerably moderate kind of a slave-holder, although he Avas occasionally subject to fractious turns. Oliver simply gave as his reason for leaving in the manner that lie did, that he wanted his "own earnings." He felt that he had as good a right to the fruit of his labor as anybody else. Despite all the pro-slavery teachings he had listened to all his life, he was far from siding \vitlr the pro-slavery doctrines. He was about twenty-six years of age, chestnut color, wide awake and a man of promise; yet it was sadly obvious that he had been blighted and cursed by slavery even in its mildest forms He loft his parents, two brothers and three sisters all slaves in the hands of Purnell, the master whom hie deserted. ISAAC, his companion, was about thirty years of age, dark, and in intellect about equal to the average passengers on the Underground Rail Road. He had a very lively hope of finding his wife in freedom, she having escaped the previous Spring; but of her whereabouts he was ignorant, as be had had no tidings of her since her departure. A lady by the name of Mrs. Fidget held the deed for Isaac. He spoke kindly of her, as he thought she treated her slaves quite as well at least as the best of slave-holders ia his neighbor- |