tendency of tolerating Slavery, or even of admitting the least claim to private property in the persons of men, in England." The arguments contained in it, were irresistible, and by its success, he amply fulfilled his promise to his antagonist. After about two years suspense, the prosecution was abandoned, and the plaintiff was compelled to pay treble costs for not bringing forward the action.
But the slaveholders, though once defeated, were not humbled. Tyrants do not readily repent or easily relax their grasp. The battle was but begun.
In 1770, an African named Thomas Lewis had left his master Mr. Stapylton, then residing in Chelsea (London.) Stapylton with the aid of two watermen whom he hired for the purpose, taking advantage of a dark night, seized Lewis, and after a struggle, dragged him off, gagging him as well as they could in the hurry. But his cries were providentially heard, and the ship to which he had been conveyed, being detained in the Downs by adverse weather, Lewis was brought back to London by writ of habeas corpus obtained and forwarded by the diligence of Granville Sharp, supported by Mrs. Banks, the mother of the celebrated traveler and naturalist Sir Joseph Banks. This rescue is described in the following words by Thomas Clarkson in his History of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade: "The vessel had reached the Downs and had actually got under way for the West Indies. In a few hours, it would have been out of sight. Just at this critical moment, the writ of habeas corpus was carried on board. The officer who served it saw the miserable captive chained to the mainmast, bathed in tears, and casting a last mournful look on the land of freedom. The Captain on receiving the writ became outrageous—but knowing the serious consequences of resisting the law of the land he gave up his prisoner, whom the officer carried safe, but now weeping for joy to the shore." On the 12th July a bill was preferred and found by the Grand Jury of Middlesex against Stapylton, and the two watermen, Malony and Armstrong, in behalf of Lewis, "without the least
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