The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1851-04-29

this latter capacity their powers large and anoma-
ous this day the powers Of justices OF the
peace. Men in delegated by the people, bul
commissioned by governors. who Themselves in turn
commissioned by The Crown, authorized, contrary
TO The first Tudimrns OF American Liberty, TO nix the
amount OF county levies, which arc generally much
larger Than the Stale 10 appoIon those levies and
control their collection and disbursements We thus Ind
power OF every sortlegislave, executive judicial and
mllitay-uuiung in The hands OF class OF men who az
descendants of the ancient nobility OF England, had been
educaedn asiocraiic habts and feelings, and who. as
oT elors OF large estates masters OF ndenied servants
and lords OF slaves controlled the social destnes OF the
colony And the influence thus acquired by this order
was confirmed and augmented by The amenisbe state OF
education among the grett mass of the people Indeed
there seems To have been provision whatever Tor gem
eral education al that time common schools were un.
known, and each man had to instruct bis children al
tome as best he could The consequence was OF course
that. general rule, they grew up in absolute lgno.
rance. MOI only this so, but seems TO have been
the cool pleasure OF the government ha! should con
Time This certainly the during The admin
siraion OF Berkeley which lasted for about thirty -siX
years. We quote from Bancrots History
The system Of common schools was known EVERY
nan said SIR William perkeey In 1911, instructs IN.
chdren according to his abl VA meihob which ri' me
children OF the ignorant 10 hopeless ignorance The IN.
gence, and The ranchsg Influence OF the preach
ng OF The ministers The Ministers continue Sir WI
pray ollener and preach less Bu Ma"s God nere
free sehaois printing and hope shalt no, have
hundred years. tor learning has brought dsobediere
and heresy aud sects into the wod aid printing has d.
ssa ,s aaa sei aansl 49, 'ss' Goa
Win this disposition upon The part of the government,
and that lameniabie ignorance among the masses OF
which all the con,emporaneous writer's speak. tits easy to
that the administration OF affairs must necessarily
have fallen into the hands Of those wealthy popIirtors
who had brought with Them into the colony The culture
which belonged to the Eng gentry of that day or into
the hands OF their children who had 10 Eng
land 10 be educated, the fashion of those times.
In this connection. should not omit to mention the
laws OF ptiogeture and enkls they exerted great
influence in building up the arisocacy OF Virginia and
confirming It's power. IL scarcely be necessary to
say thai these laws brought into the colony by
first settlers part of the laws OF the mother country
and that down the period OF the revolution their policy
was much favored Indeed the principle OF entails
carried much further in the colony than it had been
carried IN England In the first place. nothing but land,
or something issuing out Of or appurenanl to land,
could be enaiIed in England. But, BY act OF
bly, passed in 1927, saDe as well as land could De
tailed in the colony There another most important
distinction between the law OF entails in Virginia and
England In England, fines and recoverles they
called, were always part OF the law oil entails Tnis
was provision which put it in the power OF the tenant
IN TAIL at any moment TO defeat the estate tall and
in himself absolute lee -siInple over which he had
complete dominion, to alien devise, TRANSMIT, by de-
scent TO his heirs-geneial, he fit And when the
law OF entails received into the colony, fines and
coveries, a part of that law, were, matter of
course, received with it, But early ar October 1905
il enacted by the assembly that 'fnes and
erits, and every other act Tie purpose Of avoiding and
defeating e,iteS tall except by act OF the general
by, small be utterly null and void" And although
this restraint far removed in 1884 allow the
entail Of lands not exceeding EluO in value TO be de
ieaad on certain conditions, yet AL entails OF estates
eco sterling ndestIuctibe. Aud, If our
memory selves us Alright, this continued 10 be Tue law
u. l77e, when all entails abolished By thus
OF ieaisldion restraints upon the alteration OF property
IN The colony became more burhensone than the
mother county, and II was IN the rover Of the owner to
bind ms property particular line OF trans
Tor an almost indefinite period All this, OF course, ia
voei the growth OF wealthy families tended con-
hrin and pefpeiua'e tier power
From these elements and others which il is
sary to enumeiae at thus me sprung the landed drisoc
ro6y OF Virginia, which Tor more than century con-
lrole her desnies-in many respects remarkable
OF men, lusrous first in The annals OF the colony and
afterwards in the history OF the Comnon wealth and the
councils Of the nation.
We have pointed out, in an imperfect manner,
what we understand to have been the character of the
population OF Virginia during the colonial PERIOD as also
the relations subsstns between the great classes
into which that population divided Let
CERTAIN II we can. how the people OF Virginia lived in
those tmes-what manner of life they led Aud here The
hrs thing which attracts our attention is prtpondraa
Of eountry e town ie We find thai the people of
Virginia WERE from the first settlement, oil the colony,
agricultural people. They lived isolated upon their
farms, at long distances apart rarely congregang To-
geiher in towns or cit,es, "a did the Purans oi New
England. We learn from the best authority that late
l660hfty three years from the foundation OF the colo
ny" Vrg,nis possessed Considerable torn" And
Bancroft, writing OF The year 1874, says
There was scarcely such th,ns cluster OF three
church. aud eighteen houses, occupied by about q
zen am,'is, 1Mp.y ,eee"Iy as As,.iai~s had
nor lawyers 2.p242 "
And again, describing the in which the Virgin
ahs OF that period lived, he says;
The generation n existence was chiefly the fruit
Of the oi they the children OF the woods
IN the freedom OF the Wilderness and dwelling lone
cottages. scattered along the No
ercd Their houses; no printing press furnished them
book They had rccfesons but such
IN her widsno but such parents in the deer,
could their offs prng The paths bride
rather than road. and the highway aimed
nothing than keep them clear OF and ail-
uees. We doubt II there existed what should call a
bridge In the whole dominion, though 1t intended
build Visits made s hor Oh
pouch Of tobaeoo for the
was neither Jerry nor iord."-pot 2, 2l2
lie, us for moment visit Of these Virginia farm.
ers IN his forest home the OF life
leads there and The society by which he il surrounded
Having selected suitable location, generally an emf
and in sight OF lovely river he builds bis man
sion. Here he locates hms.If and family. In addition
10 bis wife, children, and other relatives, he has around
hun lew meDlals-somemes indenled servants, hut
generally slaves. There constitute his household Al a
distance from the mansion house in retired
OF his estate, find hudded together in LOO huis the
sers who cultivate his lands The number OF these will
oil course vary 10 each according 10 the wealth OF
The proprietor and the extent OF bis possessions Here,
IN the depths OF the forest with society but that OF his
a,ny, surrounded by slaves and indened servants The
cepi TO visit the horse race The county court ami
hDes perhaps the parish church. Ioiitsd country hfs
toas a e1ntroH,a g efemsat in ooionoi socsfg
We have nov described what we conceive 10 have
been the three most prominent features the social
tenn OF Virginia during her colonial existence and which
still continue such, though in a mltgaled form: first,
The general prevalence Of The relation OF Muster and dape