The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1854-01-06
q 0BARBARIsM1N VIRGINIA.

4 y : CN~'
halF century behind the times. For q
considerable period in her early history,
the education Of the people at large was
held in utter contempt by the crown Off
GERS Of Virginia. While The Puritan set
tiers ofNew England were taxing them
selves 10 wheat and in the stock of their
mcager farms for the support Of common
schools, tthe royalists of Virginia were
sneering against knowledge for the peo4
IpIc. Said Sir William Berkely, IN 1871,
"Tbe ministers should pray oiiener and
preach less. But, thank God, there are
no free schools, nor printing; and hope
we shall not have, these hundred years !;
ior learning has brought disobedience,
and sectS into the world, and printing ha,
diSulged them, and libels against the best
government. God keep us from buih.n
No wonder that in such a Stn,a "no
Noacon(ormist might teach, even in pri-
vaic, under pain Of Punishment, and no
reader might expound tha Caechism
or the Scripruros;" or that there was a
etatute in these words :-"All servants,
not being Chaislians, imported into this
country by shipping, shall be slaves;"a TO
which il was added, "Yel conversion TO
the Christian faith DOH not make ffee."
wide Bancroft, IL, l92-3
But that was in the same age in Which
our own great-great.great-gr grandma.
lher (of blessed memory had her feet
made fastn the stocks and was peled
with rolen eggs in The pillory, foy attend
ing "a convenlicle," and for teaching chill
dren from The Bible which she kept hid
under her cricket; and as we would not
aIIege our grandmothe1's wrongs against
the present Queen Of England (whom
may Heaven bless With long and pros
porous reign $50 neither would We
trump up the barbarous odicss Of tho l7th
century against the present fame Of Viz
gina. 5I8'{ i8
But unhappily, while old England has
made immense progress in both civil and
religious Liberty, and New England has
developed these 10 the utmost, the "Old
Dominionp has in some points remained
stationary in her ancient barbarism. The
recent mails bring us the repott OF the
.iriel at Norfolk, Virginia, of Mrs. Marga
ret Douglass for teaching colored children
to read-hcr daughter having escaped ar,
rest for the same crime by fight. The
Norfolk Ne,Os thus sketches The proceed-
ings, from which it appears tha: Mrs D.
conducted her own defense, without much
regard to the precedents of the court.
"on the part Of the defense, the lady
examined several prominent and respect,
able Witnesses, members Of the church
for lhe7purpose Of showing that the prac-
iice Of teaching blacks had been sanctif,
ed by the customs Of the members Of the
different churches in the city, in having
Sunday schools for that purpose. Il, did
not appear from tho evidence OF any o.
lhe gentlemen calledupon BY Mrs. Doug,
lass .hut they had actually seen negroes
taught from books in any Of the Sunday
schools Of the city, but The fact, as stated
by them, that nearly all Of the negroes
attending the Sunday schools could read,
gave rise toa violent suspicion !ha, many
ofihe ladies and gentleman Of our city,
moving in the, higher circles Lf. society,
had been guilty of as fagrant q violation
ofthe lawas could be imputed TO Mrs,
Douglass and her daughter. aaaasa4ga &
| cat the conclusion Of The evidence,
the attorney for the Commonwealth kind>
| Iy gave way for Mrs. Douglass 10 cons
clude her appeal 10 the jury, which was
done ons,he paii Of that lady in manner
that would have reflected credit on Miss
Lucy Stone, or any other member Of the
strong minded sisierhood. She dsdain,
ed to deny the charge preferred against
her, orito shitk the responsibility In any
way whatever, but gloried in the pbilan-
lllropic duties ia v bich she had been ems
gagged. She denied, howeve-, any knowl-
edge of the existing laws upon the sub
liect, and confidently expected that ,he
Jury would not pronounce her guilty for
having committed no other offense than
that Of being besrayed into error-if such
lii wasr7-by what she had deemed distin
guished precedents. Having concluded
her address, shereiired from the couri
tf,oi, fleutsll M