ected moment, their protector
drew nigh; he raised his voice aloud, and addressed the multitude. He
deprecated the idea of a resort to physical force, as being calculated
to increase their difficulties, and to plunge them into general
distress, and entreated them to retire from the hall. His voice was
immediately recognized; the effect was electric; the whole throng knew
him as their friend; their fierce passions were calmed by the voice of
reason and admonition. They could not disregard his counsels; he had
come among them, at the dead hour of night, in the midst of danger and
trial, to raise his warning voice against a course of measures they were
about to pursue. They listened to his remonstrances, and retreated
before the mob had reached the building. At this juncture the Mayor and
his officers assembled in front of the hall, and by prompt and energetic
action succeeded in dispersing the mob, and through the information
received from Thomas Shipley, the ringleaders were secured and lodged in
prison.

The part which Thomas Shipley acted in the trying scenes so often
presented in our courts, during this unhappy period, has invested his
character with a remarkable degree of interest. It is probable that his
connection with the Pennsylvania Abolition Society was the means of
enlisting his talents and exertions in this important service.

The energy and zeal of our friend in his efforts for the relief of those
about to be deprived of their dearest rights, soon distinguished him as
the most efficient member of the Society, in this department of its
duties. So intense was his interest in all cases where the liberty of
his fellow-man was at issue, that, during a period of many years, he was
scarcely ever absent from the side of the unhappy victim, as he sat
before our judicial tribunals, trembling for his fate. The promptings of
interest, the pleasures and allurements of the world, the quiet
enjoyment of a peaceful home, were all cheerfully sacrificed, when his
services were demanded in these distressing cases. Often has he left the
business, in which his pecuniary interests were materially involved, to
stand by the unhappy fugitive in the hour of his extremity, with an
alacrity and a spirit which could only be displayed by one animated by
the loftiest principles and the purest philanthropy.

Who, that has ever witnessed one of these trying scenes, can forget his
manly and honest bearing, as he stood before the unrelentin