Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1845-10-16
OBLIGATION mEETINe..

evening ihety toc i0tn ihsLs tot tHS pufposc "
taking into consideration the most efficient means
Of promoting the cause Of PoPULaR EDgcArros in
this County and Staie--to elect Delegates TO the
Education Convention to be held in Richmond on
mex, General Assembly of the Commonwealth the
sense Of the people of Berkeley County upon this
aIl-imponani subject Of State Policy"
CHARLES JAMES FAULKNER, Esq, upon
motion Of Mr.. William Dorsey, was unanimously
called to the Chair, and JAMES E. STEWART, upon
motion Of Dr.. John S. Harrison. was unanimously
chosen Secretary. The Chairman, after abiding
in few appropriate remarks to the high and holS
cause which we had assembled TO promete sugges-
ted that the meeting be opened with prayer, which
usgestion met the unanimous appreciation of the
meeting. and the Rev. Mr.. Coihn invited the Rev.
Mr.. Boggs to perform the sacred ofiiceto which
he responded in an earnest petition TO the Throne
of Divine Grace in the behalf OF the of Edu-
cation in Virginia and the spread OF knowledge
throughout The world. At the conclusion of the
prayer, ihe Chairman aud stated the object of
the meeting, which be accompanied with short,
forcibe and eloquent Address, in which be depic-
ted the miserable condition ofPopuisr Educationi in
vrginia--gave his experience one Of the School
Commissioners Of this County--spoke Of the daily
| applications which we're made to him by poor and
INDECENT children who were anxiously in search Of
education and the light Of knowledge, and whose
urgent petitions he obliged to answer: 81 can
DO nothing for you now--the scanly fund is exhsus-
ted--the places are all filled--you must wait for
another year" He charged with thrilling force
upon the State Legislature a most cupable negli-
gence and indifference upon this great subject and
urged the people to take such action upon the sub
iect as would arouse the attention of the LegisIa-
ture and cause their voice be heard and respec-
ted He concluded his address by inviting the ac-
ton and sentiments Of tho meeting upon the subject
-whereupon,
The Rev. Wm. II. CoFFIs arose and addressed
the meeting for the space of an hour in exceed
ingly interesting speech in which he fully discuss
ed the subject of Popular Education, and laid
before the meeting mass Of statistical information
connected with tie system of Common School 3D.
ucatioh both IL our own country and Europe
which served TO show US how deplorably deficient
was our own situation when compared with those
who bad taken the start of us in the race, and how
urgent was the necessity of our now making a
great and united effort to retrieve our character and
people from the lamentabe state of ignorance eve
ry where prevailing around US.
A, ba co,cb,s;op oF M Can;n'e aJaras, al
Circular Address ON the Central Education Com
mittee at Richmond, was laid before the meeting
by the Chairman for acton--when ARCHIBALD
CARY, Esq, offered the following resolution, which
was unanimously sdopted:-
ReSolred, That a Committee be Bp-
pointed by the Chair to take into conside-
ration the present state of Education in
in Virginia, and to give an expression of
the sentiments of this meeting thereupon.
| The following gentlemen were appointed the
Committee under the above resolution -
! Archibald Cary, Rev. w. H.. Coffin, Rev. J.
Boggs, David II. Conrad, Edmund P. Hunter, Hi
ram Bowen, Barton Campbell, Dr. S, Harrison,
Samuel Alburtis, and VIM. Dorsey-vho retired
ambe and Resolutions 10 the consideration Of the
meeting, which were unanimously adopted:-
THE Secretary deems it proper to state here,
that after the adoption Of the Preamble and Reso
lutions, some discussion took place explanatory of
one of the statements embodied in the Preamble
relative to the County of Berkeley, which is that
the County of Berkeley, with population Of only
II 000 contained at the last Census sic hundred
and .ftty-sigat free white persons above the age
of 20-beins about onesirteenM of her population,
black and white-who are unable to read and
write And further, that the County of Berkeley
alone contained more persons unable to read and
write than the tchole State of Connecticut accord
ing To the Census OF 1870 This is all very true
in mind that at the time Of the taking of the last
Census, there were large number-at least a
thousand-of Irish and German emigrants at work
upon the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road
passing through this County. who were for the
most part very ignorant and totally unacquainted
with our language, and hence this large credi, of
ignorance to the County of Berkeley. The resi-
dent population of Berkeley are by no means anne
nable to the charge. ID, Fl. Conrad, Esq, called
attention to this feature of the Preamble, he, as
one of the Committee, had given his sanction to it,
not wishing to destroy the symmetry ofthe paper as
drawn up by its able author, Mr.. Cary.
PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTIONS.
A portion of the citizens of Berkeley
County, assembled to consider the present
state of Education in Virginia, have upon
due reflection, adopted the following OK
preston of their sentiments:
While we shall ever cherish just pride
in the past renown of the venerable State
of Virginia, we cannot permit ourselves to
be blind to the alarming extent of igno-
rance that prevails within her borders
We deeply LAMENT the fact, that an extraor-
binary proportion of her free white popula-
ton, constituting the masses that exercise
controlling influence upon her destiny,
are debarred the privilege Of consulting the
oracles Of their faith, whether in law, re-
ligion, or morality, by total ignorance of
the simplest elements of written knowl-
edge.
The Statistics of the country, as exhibit
ted by the Census, show, that of 33l 900