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Title: Educational laws of Virginia : The personal narrative of Mrs. Margaret Douglass, a southern woman, who was imprisoned for one month in the common jail of Norfolk, under the laws of Virginia, for the crime of teaching free colored children to read
Author: Douglass, Margaret
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Educational laws of Virginia : The personal narrative of Mrs. Margaret Douglass, a southern woman, who was imprisoned for one month in the common jail of Norfolk, under the laws of Virginia, for the crime of teaching free colored children to read" ***
VIRGINIA ***
[Illustration: _DAGUERREOTYPED BY ROOT.--ENGRAVED BY SARTAIN._
_Margaret Douglass_]
EDUCATIONAL LAWS OF VIRGINIA.
THE
PERSONAL NARRATIVE
OF
Mrs. Margaret Douglass,
A SOUTHERN WOMAN,
WHO WAS IMPRISONED FOR ONE MONTH
IN THE
COMMON JAIL OF NORFOLK,
UNDER THE LAWS OF VIRGINIA,
FOR THE CRIME OF
TEACHING FREE COLORED CHILDREN TO READ.
“Search the Scriptures!”
“How can one read unless he be taught?”
HOLY BIBLE.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. JEWETT & CO.
CLEVELAND, OHIO:
JEWETT, PROCTOR & WORTHINGTON.
1854.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by
MARGARET DOUGLASS,
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
NARRATIVE &c.
I am perfectly aware that the public cannot be interested in my
personal history previous to the occurrences which this narrative is
designed to lay before them, nor am I vain enough to suppose that
there would be any thing in it worth relating. It will, however, be
seen necessary that I should state who and what I was, and under what
circumstances I found myself suddenly placed, by the authorities of
the city of Norfolk, in a position of such unenviable notoriety.
This position was not one of my own seeking, nor was I the agent or
representative of any association. I was not a “Northern emissary,”
engaged in undermining the institutions of the South, and recklessly
defying her laws, but only a weak and helpless woman, endeavoring to do
what I deemed my duty to God and to humanity. In order to relate the
circumstances as they occurred, so that they may be fully understood,
my narrative must necessarily assume a personal character, for it was
I, and I alone, who was contending for a heaven-born principle against
not only the authorities of Norfolk, but against the united strength of
the whole State of Virginia. The entire population of the commonwealth
that claims to be the first and noblest in the land were the plaintiffs
in this case, I, alone, the defendant. My story therefore must not be
called egotistical.
It is necessary also that I refer to myself, in order to do away with
any impression that I was or am an _Abolitionist_, as that term is
usually understood at the South, for I am aware that a strong effort
will be made to induce this belief on the part of the community,
in order to weaken the effect which I hope my book is destined to
produce. I deem it proper, then, to state at the outset that such
is not the case, and that I was not contending against any of the
Southern institutions, but only against a particular law of the State
of Virginia, and of, as I believe, some of the neighboring States.
Against the operations of this law, a large portion of even the
inhabitants of Virginia are beginning to rebel, as contrary, not only
to good morals, but to the spirit of our country’s institutions. This
law, although connected with slavery as a Southern institution, has
not necessarily anything to do with the abstract question of slavery
itself. It is one that might exist in a free State, though, happily
it does not. It is a law whose influence is felt, not only among the
slave population of Virginia, but which extends even to the whites
themselves. By a recent statement made to the Legislature of Virginia,
the number of grown up white men and women in the State is estimated
at nine hundred thousand, and of this number there are no-less than
eighty thousand who can neither read nor write. The law, in concise
terms, prohibits the instruction of all colored persons, by means of
books or printed papers, but it does not prevent the giving of verbal
or oral instruction even to slaves. In some of the Southern States a
similar law exists in reference only to the slave population, but I was
not aware until my arrest, that the law of Virginia was more stringent,
and included in its operation the free colored people as well as the
slaves. Had I known this, and had I not the constant example before me
of those whom I supposed were well informed as to this matter, I should
not have dared to set myself up in opposition to the laws of a State of
which I was a resident.
I repeat, therefore, most emphatically, that I was not an Abolitionist,
and that no person or persons had anything to do with the course I
pursued, in even the most indirect manner. I am a Southern woman, by
birth, education, and principles. I have been a slaveholder myself,
and, if circumstances rendered it necessary or practicable, I might
be such again. With the abstract question of slavery I have nothing
to do in this book. I write it as a Southern woman to the people of
the South. I am and always have been one of them, and still possess
the same attachment for them and their institutions, that was first
instilled into me in my childhood, and which has grown stronger during
my whole life among them.
I was born in the city of Washington, but removed at a very early
age to Charleston, South Carolina; where I was subsequently married,
and resided, until the year 1845, when the painful associations
connected with the death of my only son induced me to remove to
Norfolk, Virginia, where I led a quiet and unobtrusive life, with my
only daughter, until the month of December, 1853. Having been thrown
upon my own resources, and possessed of a too independent spirit to be
a burden to those who might have assisted me, I supported myself and
child by the labor of my hands; my business being that of vest-making.
Being a superior workwoman, I always had an abundance of the best work
to do; but it was necessary for me to labor incessantly, in order to
maintain myself and daughter respectably. Being blessed with good
health, I was enabled to do this. We lived alone, in a retired part
of the city, and our circle of acquaintances, from choice, not from
necessity, was rather limited. Our habits were industrious, frugal and
retiring. We were respected, and led lives that were irreproachable, as
was abundantly conceded by even the Judge before whom I was tried. Our
only association with society was that into which we were led by the
exercise of our feelings of humanity; it being our natural disposition
to share the little goods we possessed with those who were in want or
affliction of any sort. We now enjoy the happy satisfaction of knowing
that we have left behind us, many grateful hearts, in those whose
distress we have relieved, or with whose sorrows we have sympathized.
This brief history of myself and my antecedents, seemed necessary,
in order to show who and what I was, and to effectually put down the
assertions of some of the Southern editors, that I was an Abolitionist
in disguise, or, at least, was acting at the instigation of those who
are enemies to the South and her institutions. I shall now proceed to
relate, as succinctly as possible, the history of my personal contest
with the great and dignified State of Virginia, as represented in the
persons of a few men in power in the honorable city of Norfolk.
Being perfectly satisfied with my daughter’s society, I craved no
other, and endeavored to practice the precepts which I wished to instil
into her mind, and, as she grew older, we went on hand in hand
in our little benevolent duties, making allowances for the faults of
others, practicing mercy and charity to all who came in our way, both
black and white; and, as I am a strong advocate for the religious
instruction of the whole human family, it fell to our lot to become the
religious and moral instructors of a few little colored free children.
There is a well known barber living in the city of Norfolk, a genteel
and respectable colored man, much respected in that community. Having
some business with him, I one day called at his shop, into which he
politely invited me. Casting my eyes around, they fell upon two little
colored boys, with spelling books in their hands, which they appeared
to be very attentively engaged in studying. I inquired if they were his
children, and if they went to school. His reply was, that they were
his, but that they did not go to school, though he was very anxious to
have them learn. I then inquired if there were no day schools for free
colored children. He smiled, and said, No, madam; and he believed that
there was no one who took interest enough in little colored children
to keep a day school for them. I replied, that this was a pity, but
that there was certainly a large Sunday school connected with Christ’s
Church, to which he might send his children. His answer was, that his
children did attend that school, but that they did not learn much; as
they had no one to assist them in their lessons during the week; that
he kept them at their books, whenever they had any spare time, and that
they would occasionally pick up a little instruction from those who
visited his shop. I inquired if he had any education himself. He said
no, but that he indeed felt the want of it, and was very thankful to
any one who would take the trouble to instruct his children. I then
found that he had five children, three of whom were little girls, and
that they were all very anxious to learn. Without further consideration
or hesitation, I then offered to allow my daughter to teach his little
boys, stating that she would do so with great pleasure. I told him to
send them every day to my house, and that it need not detain them long
from his business. He thanked me very kindly, and said that he would
send them, although their time was very valuable to him, as they were
obliged to wait upon the gentlemen who visited his shop. His eagerness
for the instruction of his children deeply interested me, and, on my
return home, I related the circumstance to my daughter, who readily
assented to my proposal. Having no further business with this man, I
saw no more of him, and had nearly forgotten the occurrence, until he
called at my house with his little girls. I received him politely,
and spoke kindly to his children, who were neatly dressed, and very
respectful, and appeared unusually intelligent. Their father then
said, “Mrs. Douglass, I have told my little girls of your kind offer
to instruct their brothers, and they are also very anxious to learn,
and I wish to know if you would not prefer to have these two eldest,
thinking that the boys might give your daughter too much trouble.” I
replied that it would be no trouble, but a pleasure to us, and that
he might send both the boys and girls regularly every day, and that
we would do all we could for their religious and moral instruction. I
then inquired if they had any books. He replied, only such as had been
given them at Christ Church Sunday school. “Very well,” said I, “give
them those books, and send them to-morrow.” I felt certain that there
could be nothing wrong in doing during the week what was done on Sunday
by the teachers in that school, who were members of some of the first
families in Norfolk, nor in using the very books that were given to the
children there taught. I was particular also to ascertain that both
himself and family were free, as I knew that the laws of the Southern
states did not permit the slaves to be educated, although at the same
time, all the churches in Norfolk were actually instructing from books
both slave and free colored children, and had done so for years without
molestation.
On the day following the two little girls made their appearance alone,
their father being unable to spare their brothers from his business.
My daughter received her little scholars kindly, and endeavored to
make them feel as comfortably as strange children can feel in a
strange house. At this time I lived in a neat little house, containing
four rooms, situated in a quiet and respectable neighbourhood, with
everything genteel and comfortable around us, gathered together by
our own industry. In this house I had lived nearly four years. It was
alone, and I had engaged it before it was finished, thinking it would
form a quiet and retired home for myself and daughter. Whether it
proved to be such or not, my readers will see. Nearly the whole block
was built up with small tenements, and I soon found that my neighbors
were not of the most refined class, and would prove no associates
for us. I therefore determined to live very secluded, and be seldom
seen or heard. Still, I endeavored to be kind and obliging to all who
stood in need of my sympathies, and made it my business, if any of
them were sick or in trouble, to administer to their wants by sending
nourishment, or, if necessary, by calling to see them in person; still
receiving none as visitors at my house; for they were a class of people
with little or no education, and, of course, refinement they knew
nothing of. They did not appreciate my character and habits, and could
not understand my retired way of living, and at times we were greatly
annoyed by them. This I could not at first understand, as I knew I
did not merit any unkindness from them, but I endeavored to bear my
persecutions with patience, and continued to live in my own solitary
way, my daughter attending to our little domestic affairs, and I
steadily employed with my needle.
The two little girls continued to come every day, and were well
behaved and very obedient. They soon became indeed, a source of
pleasure to us. They were very attentive to their studies, and with
my daughter’s unremitting attention, they made rapid progress. They
were with us nearly a month, when my daughter remarked to me, that
she would be very sorry to part with them, as they learned very fast,
and every day required more of her attention, and she feared that
they would interfere with her other duties. Now, up to this time, I
had not anticipated receiving any compensation for the tuition of
those children, nor had I dreamed of establishing a regular school.
What I had done had been merely from the impulses of common humanity,
without a thought of reward. I casually asked my daughter which she
would prefer, to teach those children, or assist me in sewing; and if
she would be willing to take charge of a small class of free colored
children. She replied that she was fond of children, and would be glad
to teach them if she could establish a class. “Very well,” I said,
“you shall do so: we will open a school on the first of next month,
(which was June, 1852,) for free colored children.” I thereupon sent
word to Mr. Robinson, the father of the two little girls, notifying him
of our intention, and stating that he might send us all the scholars
that he could, and that the price of tuition would be three dollars
per quarter. We were at once overrun with applications, and our little
school was soon formed and well regulated, the children punctual in
their attendance, and under good discipline. My daughter paid strict
attention to them, and they made rapid progress in their studies. Our
school numbered twenty-five pupils, of both sexes, and continued in
prosperous existence about eleven months. We made no secret of the
matter, and never intended to do so, nor could we, had we desired to
ever so much.
My readers will therefore perceive, that the formation of our little
school arose from a circumstance entirely accidental, I having at first
offered simply to teach two or three colored children their Sunday
school lessons; they being members of Christ’s Church Sunday school;
and from the very books given to them by the ladies and gentlemen
engaged in that school. Finding those children obedient and well
behaved, as well as anxious to be taught, I became deeply interested
in their welfare, and continued from time to time to receive all who
offered themselves as pupils. Living a life so retired, I needed an
occupation involving some care, and was glad to be engaged in a duty
so benevolent. We attended strictly to their moral and religious
instruction, and, when they were sick, we promptly visited them, and
administered to their wants, and, I am indeed happy to say, although I
was afterwards cruelly cast into prison and otherwise unjustly dealt
with, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I suffered in a good and
righteous cause. I was totally ignorant of any existing law prohibiting
the instruction of free colored children, but, at the same time, I
was careful to have no slaves among our scholars. Every thing passed
on quietly for several months, in the ordinary routine of a child’s
school, with nothing to interest my readers particularly, unless it be
one incident which will never be forgotten by us, viz: the death of one
of our little scholars, the circumstances of which I will here take the
liberty to relate.
She was about fourteen years of age, and, while at school, she was
mild, humble and obedient, and studied very hard. Her form was slender
and her constitution very delicate. I frequently thought that her close
application to her books would injure her health, though she seemed
predestined to an early grave. She was at length taken seriously ill,
and we visited her as frequently as our engagements would permit. Will
my readers go with me into a tottering negro hovel, situated in the
very heart of the city of Norfolk? It is a miserable apology for a
human habitation, containing but two apartments, one above the other.
On one side of the first, or ground floor, is a wretched bed, supported
by some boards and broken chairs, and on it lies one of Mrs. Douglass’s
sable scholars, her young life fast ebbing away under the ravages of a
rapid consumption. Her mother, poor woman, is little better off, and
her hollow cough tells too truly that her own days are numbered. With
a constitution naturally delicate, and almost worn out by constant
watching, she is unable to earn anything to add to her little stores,
or even to obtain the slightest necessary nourishment for her dying
child. Here is a scene of suffering, and no one to administer to the
wants of the dying or the living. Common humanity calls loudly for the
exercise of simple charity, but the cry is unheard.
Quietly and alone, my daughter and myself sat up, night after night,
with the suffering child, and endeavored to smooth her pathway to the
grave. She seemed far more happy and contented when we were beside her,
and we therefore gave to her all the time we could possibly spare. On
the night that she died we sat with her until a late hour, and, as we
were leaving her, she said, in broken accents;--“I thank you, Mrs.
Douglass and Miss Rosa, for all you have done for me: you have taught
me to pray and to read my Bible, but I shall never read it again; you
must pray for me before you go.” We did so, and left her in a quiet
slumber, from which she awoke only, as we trust, in heaven. We took
charge of the funeral arrangements, had her poor corpse neatly attired
for its last repose, and saw that every thing was done decently and in
order. Six of her school mates, selected previously by herself, dressed
in white, acted as pall bearers at the funeral, and were followed by
the rest of the school, I in a close carriage bringing up the rear of
the procession. Yes, I followed to the grave the remains of a poor
little negro child, and as this was a stretch of humanity that the good
people of Norfolk could neither appreciate nor understand, I suppose
I may trace to it the beginning of their future persecutions, which
resulted finally in the descent upon my establishment by the officers
of the law.
The descent was made on my school on the 9th day of May, 1853, between
eight and nine o’clock in the morning, when the children had nearly
all assembled. No note of warning had been given of this movement, and
it was as unexpected as the sudden upheavings of an earthquake. Our
school-room was situated in the second story back room. My daughter
had but a few moments before taken her seat at her humble pine table,
and was surrounded by her little sable scholars. Sable, did I say? No,
not all; for in many cases the difference could scarcely be perceived
between them and white children. Yes, Mrs. Douglass “condescended” to
teach free black men’s children, and free white men’s children--some of
the latter being, very probably, among her real persecutors! It was a
horrible crime, was it not?
All was going on as peaceably as usual, and I had taken my seat to
commence my daily toil, when a loud knock was made at my front door.
I answered it myself, when the face of an officer presented itself,
who inquired who lived up stairs. I replied that I alone occupied the
house. He then asked if Mrs. Douglass lived there. I told him that I
was Mrs. Douglass. He said, “You keep a school.” “Yes, sir,” was my
reply. “A school for colored children?” I answered, “yes.” “I must see
those children,” said he. I then demanded what business he had with
them, or with anything in my house. He replied, that he had been sent
by the Mayor. “Very good, sir,” said I, “walk in, and you shall see
them;” and, without giving my daughter or the children any notice,
I invited him up stairs into the school-room. Never will I forget
the frightened state of those children, and the countenance of their
young teacher. My daughter sat paralyzed, covering her face with her
hands; and it was some time before I could restore order in the room.
Some were crying, some exclaiming “Oh my! oh my!” and some clinging
around me in their terror; but, during the excitement, I never lost
my presence of mind. As soon as I had restored quiet in the room, I
inquired of Mr. Cherry, the City Constable, what he wanted with those
children. He replied, that he must take them before the Mayor. “Very
well, sir,” said I, “my daughter and myself will accompany them.” To
my astonishment, he went to the head of the stairs and gave a loud rap
with his club, when another officer made his appearance, entering from
my back door. For the moment I thought that my house was surrounded
with officers, who perhaps fancied that they had found a nest of
thieves. They then noted down the names of all the children, as well
as those of their parents. When they had finished, I politely informed
Mr. Cherry that they were all free children, and all, or nearly all,
members of the Christ’s Church Sunday-school. “It makes no difference,
madam,” he replied, “it is a violation of the law to teach any person
of color to read or write, slave or free, and an act punishable by
imprisonment in the penitentiary.” “Very well,” I replied, “if they
send me to the penitentiary, it will be in a good cause, and not a
disgraceful one.” Even this information, which was the most profound
news to me, did not unnerve me at all: for I remembered that our
Saviour was persecuted for doing good, and why should not I be. This
thought strengthened me to bear my own persecutions for ten long months
afterwards.
The officers having left the school room, I politely escorted them
down stairs, proffering them seats until I made some alterations in my
dress before I accompanied them to the Mayor’s office. I immediately
returned to the school room, and found the children in a dreadful state
of excitement. I must here inform my readers that all persons of color
in the Southern, or Slave States, have a dreadful horror of constables,
for it is these officers to whom is entrusted the execution of their
punishment for all offences. After I had again brought the children to
order, I was ready to accompany the officers. I arranged the children
in couples and gave them up to the officers, and we all started for the
Mayor’s office, my daughter and myself walking at a little distance
in the rear. Will my readers please imagine, for an instant, a crowd
of little children, walking two and two, preceded and followed by two
stout men, each with a great club in his hands? It reminded me of a
flock of little lambs going to the slaughter.
We soon reached the Mayor’s Court, and were seated until his honor
was ready for an examination. Many spectators were present to witness
the wonderful sight of a sudden descent upon a negro school. I had a
casual acquaintance with his honor, Mayor Stubbs, as I had been before
reported to him for an act of humanity to a helpless and worthy little
woman and her two infant children. I had been made acquainted with her
sufferings and miserable situation, and, from time to time, for two
years, I had bestowed upon her many acts of kindness and sympathy,
as cordially as though she had been my own sister. She had a drunken
and worthless husband, who, when in a state of inebriation, was very
violent and brutal to her, and who would often leave her for weeks at
a time, without a cent, and almost in a state of starvation. At those
emergencies she would subsist solely on what she received from my
bounty. Finally, her young child, about one year old, was taken very
ill. She was a kind and affectionate mother, and grieved much for her
little boy. I endeavored to obtain assistance for her in the humane and
benevolent city of Norfolk, but in vain. I alone clung to her to the
last. She resided at some distance from my house. Her child lay for
some weeks in a very critical condition, and I could not do as much for
her as I desired to do. At this time her husband was away on one of his
drunken carousals in the city, and not even the sufferings of his dying
child could soften his brutal heart. I finally concluded to take her
and her children into my own house, and made the proposition to her,
which she received with much gratitude, and readily assented to. By my
advice she soon had her little chattels gathered together and sent them
to an auctioneer. The room was soon emptied, and, with her two sick
children, she hastened to my house, where, with our united attentions,
we succeeded in raising the little sufferer to health. The facts in
this case having been reported to Mayor Stubbs, he called in person
to see me, and proved himself to be a good man, as he afterwards was
a merciful judge. I relate this little circumstance merely to show my
first acquaintance with this gentleman.
It was about a year after this occurrence when I entered his court-room
with my little school, in obedience to his somewhat pressing
invitation, and attended by his two officers as a guard of honor.
I felt certain that he was a man who desired peace in his community,
as well as one disposed to temper justice with mercy to all. In about
fifteen minutes we were called before him, and the children arranged
on one side of the room. He greeted me very cordially with a “Good
morning, Mrs. Douglass.” I politely returned his salutation, when he
remarked that I had quite a large family. I said yes, and that they
were all very good children. “But, are you aware,” he inquired, “that
it is a violation of the law of this State to instruct colored children
to read?” I replied, that I had not been aware of the existing law
until that morning; that these were all free children, and that every
one before him was a member of the Christ’s Church Sunday-school; that
this school was held at the lecture-room on Freemason street, where
primers and other books were given to them to learn to read; and that,
if I had violated the law, they had been doing so for years. The Mayor
replied that such facts had never been reported to him, or he should
have been obliged to do his duty in the matter. A gentleman, who was
present, voluntarily asserted that there was a large Sunday-school
kept there for colored children, and that he thought a violation of
the law was such as much in one place as another. His Honor then took
up the statutes of Virginia, and read the law on the subject, which
announced the maximum penalty attached to its violation to be a fine of
one hundred dollars and imprisonment for six months. He also remarked
that he was very sorry the matter had occurred, but that he must do
his duty in the premises. I replied, that I expected him to do his
duty; but that with a clear conscience I could bear imprisonment, or
anything else. I asked him if anything would be done with the children.
He said, “Nothing,” and gave immediate orders for their dismissal,
when they fled like so many little birds let loose from a cage. I
could not refrain from tears as I looked after them as they left the
room, and hastened from what was to them a place of exceeding terror.
I was rejoiced that no harm would fall upon them, and felt that I
could bear anything rather than that they should suffer in any way. I
then inquired if anything would be done with their parents, and was
answered, “Nothing.” I then asked his Honor if he could allow the whole
responsibility of the matter to rest upon myself; that my daughter
was not yet of age, and that I was alone responsible for any act of
hers, as well as my own. He inquired if I had any friends who would
become security for my appearance before the Supreme Court. “Friends!”
I replied “I am my own best friend, and my daughter’s only one.” I
told him to do his duty, and put me in prison at once, if he chose,
for I would ask no favors at the hands of any man. On receiving this
reply, he reflected for a moment and then said, “I think that I am
allowed some discretion in this matter. You say, Mrs. Douglass, that
you were not aware of the existing law?” I replied that I was not, and
that I was not disposed to violate the laws of any people or place
where I might reside. He then, being perfectly satisfied with my good
intentions, frank acknowledgment, and ignorance of the law, dismissed
the matter; for which I tendered him my thanks, and left the court room.
Imagine my surprise, when I reached the steps of the courthouse,
to find a crowd of colored men, women, and children, the parents
and relatives of friends of our little scholars, waiting to learn
the decision of the Mayor. They greeted myself and daughter with
many blessings, and said that if we had anything to pay they had the
money ready for us. I replied that such was not the case, and that
there had been no harm done; and after warmly thanking them for their
kindness and sympathy, we looked around for our little scholars,
gathered as many of them as we could together, and took them back to
the school-room, where we gave each of them their books and slates,
and, with wounded hearts, took leave of them, one by one. It was a sad
parting, and we grieved to think that they must henceforth grow up in
darkness and ignorance. For several days it was as much as we could do
to receive the visits of the parents and friends of those children,
many of whom we had never seen before. They lamented over the breaking
up of our little school, and many shed tears freely. They showered
their blessings upon us, and prayed for our welfare, and were evidently
truly grateful for all we had done for their children.
It is generally thought in the Southern States that the negroes are
ungrateful, but I, for one, have never found them so. From the day
that I first interested myself in these unfortunate people, to the
day I left the city of Norfolk, they literally showered upon us their
grateful blessings. In my opinion, those who call the Southern negroes
ungrateful, are only those who never do anything to call forth that
emotion. I believe the oppressed to be more susceptible of gratitude
than any other class. I have ever found them so. May I ask what
gratitude do they owe to those who will degrade them? What gratitude
does that child owe to his own father, who coldly sells him as his
slave? Let us first practice justice and mercy ourselves, and then ask
for the gratitude of our slaves.
My scholars having been dismissed, and the school given up, in
obedience to the requirements of the law, I felt perfectly satisfied
that the matter had there ended. I had promised my daughter, some
months before, a visit to New York, during the intended vacation of
our school, but the authorities did not allow us the pleasure of thus
indulging our scholars, having given them an earlier and much longer
vacation than we ever dreamed of.
My daughter left Norfolk on the 29th day of June, for the city of New
York, intending to return about the first of September. In her absence
I was left entirely alone, without even a servant, and so remained for
about six months, seldom going out, and receiving but few visitors,
aside from my little scholars who would occasionally come to see me,
and bring some little token of their continued affection. They all knew
that I was very fond of flowers, and it was seldom that my table did
not contain bouquets from their hands. Indeed, they kept me supplied
with flowers during the whole summer. I still continued to visit them
whenever they were sick, for I knew that no authorities could prevent
this. Both I and my friends supposed that the matter was forever ended,
until the 13th day of July, when, to my utter astonishment, I was
served with a legal paper, of which the following is a correct copy:--
“THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
_To the Sergeant of the City of Norfolk_:
You are hereby commanded to summon Margaret Douglass, and Rosa
Douglass, to appear before the Judge of our Circuit Court of the City
of Norfolk, at the Court House of our said City, on the first day of
the next November Term, to answer a presentment of the Grand Jury made
against them in the said Court, on the 2d day of June, 1853, for this,
that the said Margaret Douglass, and Rosa Douglass, and each of them,
did, on the 9th day of May, 1853, at the City of Norfolk, unlawfully
assemble with divers negroes, for the purpose of instructing them
to read and to write, and did instruct them to read and to write,
contrary to the Act of the General Assembly, in such case made and
provided, and against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of
Virginia.
Witness, John Williams, Clerk of our said Court, at the Court House,
this 13th day of July, 1853, in the 78th year of the Commonwealth.
(Signed,) JNO. WILLIAMS, C. C.
A Copy, (Signed,) JNO. WILLIAMS, C. C.
This document needs but little comment. I merely ask, was not the cause
a great one that enabled a poor weak woman thus to disturb “the peace
and dignity of the Commonwealth of Virginia,” and that, too, “in the
78th year” of its existence? Were not the subject too serious, one
might venture to laugh at the idea of the fearful perils to which that
dignified and aristocratic State was subjected, by the fact that a few
little negro boys and girls had learned that famous sentence “In Adam’s
fall we sinned all.” Let the fact be recorded, and go down to posterity
among the noble archives of that noble State, that her existence was
jeopardized in the year 1853, by the shocking occurrence of some of
its inhabitants learning “to read and to write.” Shades of Henry Clay,
of Thomas Jefferson, of John Randolph, and of all the dead worthies
of Virginia, behold a specimen of enlightened progression that is
something more than an abstraction!
After receiving this paper, the effect of which I well understood, my
mind was heavily taxed as to what course I should pursue in the matter.
Owing to my retired way of living and my constant employment, I had
but little time to spare from my daily avocations, but a vast amount
of time for reflection. My pecuniary means being limited, and having
but little affection for lawyers, I determined to rely upon the justice
of my cause, and plead my own case. Therefore, for four months I was
engaged in hard study, hard labor, and hard living, my mind being as
fully occupied as my hands. I determined to converse with no one, and
when the matter would be occasionally brought up by others, I would
have as little to say as possible, and few knew the course of action
that I intended to pursue. In the first place, I had no quarrel with
the people of Virginia, and did not wish to have, and I determined
to enter into no conflict with them. I also felt certain that, if I
employed counsel, many good men and women of Norfolk, who had done all
that I had, would be brought into the same difficulty. Leaving self
entirely out of the question, I determined not to do anything to place
those engaged in Christ’s Church Sunday-school in the same difficulty
with myself, for I heartily approved of what they were and had been
doing. I also believed that, if I kept quiet, the matter would still
amount to nothing. I could not believe that men who boasted of their
talents and benevolence could be so blinded by their attachment to
their peculiar institution as to farther irritate a matter that would,
from beginning to end, prove disgraceful to them and to their State.
I therefore took a firm stand, and was determined to maintain the
principle for which I was doomed to suffer; for, as I have said before,
I am a strong advocate for the religious and moral instruction of the
Southern slaves. I was determined to express my views freely, should
my case ever be brought before the court. During the whole of this
prosecution, I did nothing, either by word or action, to irritate the
people of Norfolk, and, though I might have replied to the paragraphs
against me inserted in their newspapers, I did not do so; and, though
extremely mortifying to my feelings to have my name brought so freely
into the public prints, still I was silent, and bore my persecutions
with patience.
Although I corresponded regularly with my daughter every week, I did
not make known to her the condition of affairs, desiring not to mar
her happiness with our northern friends, until the first of September,
when I directed her to remain in New York, until I should call her
home. Thus my readers will see that my daughter did not “run away”
from the authorities of Norfolk, and the assertions to that effect in
their papers were utterly false. She left Norfolk before the summons
was served, and remained there at my instance, in ignorance of what was
going on at home. Norfolk was our adopted home, and we never had the
slightest idea of running away from it. No, indeed: we would not so far
forget our native dignity, as to have it said that a South Carolinian
ran from a Virginian. As it has since been proven, the authorities
and people of Norfolk would have been very glad if we had taken this
course, in order that they might at once have been relieved from the
odium of pursuing the prosecution, and at the same time been enabled
to brand us as fugitives from justice. The _Richmond Examiner_ has
recently said that my prison doors were open at my bidding. It is very
true that they were, but for what purpose, and how would my flight have
been regarded?
Believing that my lonely situation naturally called loudly for
friends, I thought that in that city of churches, some one, at least
among the religious part of the community, would come forward and offer
me sympathy and advice without being solicited therefor; but will my
readers believe me when I say, that not one solitary individual thus
manifested the least interest in the matter? I determined, therefore,
to ask nothing at the hands of a Virginian, for I had never done so
during the eight years that I had resided among them, and I can truly
say that I owe the people of Norfolk nothing: no, not even for the
exercise of common humanity.
As the time drew near when I would be called upon by the attorney
of the commonwealth to appear for trial, I felt myself thoroughly
prepared to meet the worst, and on the first day of the November
Term, I voluntarily stood before him in his office, and had a brief
conversation with him, in which I informed him, that I was ready to
meet the case, and that he would oblige me by bringing it on as soon
as possible, as my mind was heavily taxed, and I had little time to
lose. He promised to do so, and inquired who was my counsel. I told
him that I was my own counsellor, and should employ no other. It was
my first interview with this gentleman, and I was much pleased with
his manner and conversation. He remarked that he should be placed in
a rather disagreeable position, by having to plead against a lady.
I replied, that I wished to be friendly with him, and hoped that he
would not think me unreasonable: that I expected him to do his duty,
and that I should certainly endeavor to do mine. I believe that the
matter gave him some uneasiness, when he found that I was determined
to plead my own case, and, after explaining a few points to him, he
remarked that the matter had entirely slipped his memory, and that he
had not before thought seriously about it. He promised to send for me
whenever I was wanted, and soon after did so; but, another case not
being concluded, I was compelled to await still another day. The day of
trial came at last, and I proceeded to the Court House, unattended by
any one, and, seating myself in the jury room, patiently awaited the
summons to appear before the Court. I had provided myself with a neat
and becoming dress, in a description of which my lady readers may be
interested. It was made of black velvet, fitting closely and neatly to
my form, with rich flowing lace sleeves, white kid gloves, and a plain
straw bonnet, neatly trimmed with white. I had in my hand the copy of
the summons, and a small red pocket Bible, which my daughter used when
she visited the sick children. I had written nothing that I expected to
say, preferring to depend on my own energies in whatever emergencies I
might be placed. Being fully acquainted with the rules of courtesy, and
the respect due from a lady to every true gentleman, as well as that
required by an honorable Court, I determined not to do the slightest
violence to the feelings of any one present, but to proffer all due
consideration to the Court and counsellors, and I certainly expected
the same in return. In my determination to plead my own case, I did not
desire to step out of the natural sphere of my sex, or to force myself
into the position of a counsellor, but I was the party most deeply
interested; had given the matter all due reflection, and was best
acquainted with its merits; had gathered together every fragment and
woven them into one web, and it pleased me to unravel it myself; for I
was prosecuted for violating a law that I knew nothing about. Certainly
no favors had been shown to me because I was a woman, and therefore I
believed that I possessed the right to defend myself in my own way.
As I sat in the jury-room, waiting to be called, that body were
receiving their charge from the judge in some petty case tried the
day before. When they entered, I was invited into the court-room. The
Prosecuting Attorney of the Commonwealth received me at the door, and
we passed in together, I taking my seat at the counsellor’s table,
directly facing his Honor the learned Judge. I entered the room with a
firm step, walked proudly through the dark cloud of heads that I saw
around me, and when I took my seat I was perfectly calm and collected.
It was some time before the court was fairly organized; for everybody
present seemed to be confused, except myself. Finally, the jury were
sworn, and the witnesses for the Commonwealth called.
Mr. Cherry, the City Constable, who made the original arrest, was
sworn, and examined by the Prosecuting Attorney; and, as he testified
merely to the facts as they really were, and knew nothing farther, I
did not cross-examine him. The same may be said of officer Cox, his
assistant at the time of the descent upon the school, who was next
called; and also of his Honor, Mayor Stubbs, neither of whom were
questioned by me. The next witness called for the prosecution was Mr.
C. C. Melson, the agent of my landlord, who, although unexpectedly
called upon, walked firmly to the witness stand, placed his hands
behind him, fixed his eyes steadily upon the jury, and answered every
question with a degree of promptness that did him credit. He testified
merely that he was acquainted with me, and was the agent and collector
of rents for Mr. Taylor, my landlord; that he rented me the house, but
not for the purpose of keeping a negro school, and that he did not know
that one was kept there; that I engaged the house when the foundation
was laid, and had lived in it ever since. On being asked if he ever
saw any colored children entering it, he replied that he never watched
his tenants’ houses to see who went in or out. There was no necessity
for cross-examining Mr. Melson; and as sufficient facts were deemed
proven, and not denied by me, to substantiate the alleged violation
of the letter of the law, the case for the prosecution here rested. I
then informed the Prosecuting Attorney that I wished, before examining
my witnesses, to make a statement to the court in reference to my
daughter’s absence; and, permission being granted, I then addressed his
Honor and the jury;
“I beg leave to inform your honor, and you, gentlemen of the jury,
that my daughter, whose name is joined with mine in this prosecution,
is at present in the city of New York, and was there at the time the
summons was issued and served upon me: but, if she were in Norfolk at
this time, I do not know that you have any business whatever with her.
She is under age, and has been brought up in strict obedience to me in
all things. I am alone responsible for any act of hers, as well as for
my own. I am here to answer to any charge that may be brought against
me. I have been notified to present myself this day before this court
to answer to the charge of having been engaged in teaching colored
children to read and to write, and I am informed that in so doing I
have been acting against the _peace_ and _dignity_ of the Commonwealth.
This charge, gentlemen, I do not like, but we shall see who it is that
destroys our _peace_ and insults our _dignity_.”
The Prosecuting Attorney here touched me on the arm, thinking that I
was about to discuss the merits of the case before the testimony was
closed. This somewhat disconcerted me, but I took my seat and soon
regained my calmness, and proceeded to call my witnesses.
I had but three, Mr. Walter Taylor, Mr. Sharp, a lawyer, and Mr. John
Williams, also a lawyer and the Clerk of the Court in which I was
being tried. All these gentlemen were members of Christ’s Church, and,
together with their wives and daughters, were teachers and instructors
of negroes in the Sunday-school held habitually in the lecture room of
that Church. Mr. Williams had penned with his own hands the summons
that had brought me then before the court, while his own daughter,
Miss Eliza Williams was then teaching in that Sunday-school the same
children that were in our school, and from the same books that they
used with us. Among others who were also engaged in teaching in that
Sunday-school, and from the same books that we used, I may mention
Mrs. Dixon, Mrs. Southgate, Mrs. Pinkum, Miss Martha Taylor, Miss Jane
Watson, Miss Henrietta Hunter, the Hon. Tazewell Taylor, and even
some members of the family of Judge Baker who presided on the Bench
at my trial, and finally fixed and passed my sentence. In giving the
names of these persons, I am not actuated by any malicious feelings
towards them, for I most heartily approve of all that they have done
in the matter of instructing the colored people of Norfolk, but I
do it merely to show the injustice to which I was subjected, while
these individuals, representing the aristocracy of that town, and who
had done all, and more than I had done, and because they were such
aristocracy, were not only allowed to escape the punishment attached
to the offence of which we were equally guilty, but also to aid in
the prosecution against me, and even sit in judgment upon me. The
deductions from these simple facts are so clear and simple that I need
not direct the attention of my readers to them more particularly.
The excitement in the Court room, when the names of my three witnesses
were called, was most intense, and when it subsided, Mr. Taylor was put
upon the stand, and testified as follows:--
_Question._ Was you a teacher in the Christ Church Sunday-school?
_Answer._ For the white children I was, and the school was held in the
church.
_Q._ Did you never visit the lecture room?
_A._ I had nothing to do with the school that was kept there.
_Q._ Did you never distribute books to the negro children of that
school?
_A._ I attended the library of the school for white children.
_Q._ Did you not instruct colored children to read from those books?
_A._ I did not.
Mr. Taylor was not cross-examined by the Prosecuting Attorney, and I
allowed him to take his seat, and called Mr. John Williams, Attorney,
and Clerk of the Court. This gentleman took the stand with a pallid
countenance, and quivering lip, evidently extremely troubled by the
position in which he found himself placed. My benevolent feelings
would not allow him to convict himself or his amiable daughter, and I
therefore asked him a few unimportant questions, and dismissed him. I
then called Lawyer Sharp, who testified as follows:--
_Q._ Were you a teacher in the school for colored children, held in
Christ’s Church Lecture room?
_A._ No, madam.
_Q._ Did you not attend the Sabbath-school held there for the
instruction of negro children?
_A._ I went there, occasionally, and lectured to them.
_Q._ Did you not distribute books among them?
_A._ _The ladies had all to do with that!_
_Q._ When you visited that school, did you not instruct them yourself?
To this question he replied very _sharply_,--thus evincing his name
to be indicative of his character and disposition,--that they did not
teach them to read and write, and that he did not know that the law
prohibited religious and moral instruction to negroes.
I answered, “If you, sir, who are engaged in the practice of the law,
did not know it, how could it be expected that I should?”
“Madam?” said he, as though he did not understand me. I repeated the
question, and he then addressed the Judge, and asked permission to say
what he had to communicate directly to the jury. I made no objection,
and he proceeded to state as follows:--
That certain negroes applied to Rev. Mr. Cummings, the Pastor of
Christ’s Church, for religious instruction, and were allowed to
meet for that purpose in the lecture room of the church. He (Sharp)
occasionally visited the school and lectured to them. _He found that
some of them could read very well_, but that when they came to the hard
words, _he allowed them to skip over them_!
This was sufficient for my purposes. This witness, having at first
denied that the members of that school were taught to read, when the
question was pressed home, endeavored to escape the perils of his
position by saying that _the ladies had all to do with that_! Oh, brave
Mr. Sharp! You will henceforth be remembered in Norfolk as having crept
under the ladies’ aprons in order to shelter yourself from the eye of
the insulted law.
But, even after this, he admitted that the scholars were in possession
of books, for he, himself, examined them, and found that some of them
could read very well. He could not be mistaken about this, because he
allowed them to skip over the hard words. This was his own language,
and I here leave him where he left himself.
These books were, in many instances, the identical copies used in my
school, and my only object in introducing this testimony was to show
the jury that I had been doing only what was habitually done in this
school, and that if I was guilty of a violation of the law, I had
abundant precedents among the aristocracy of the city. This having been
shown conclusively by the unwilling witness, Sharp, my case is ended.
The Prosecuting Attorney, who treated me with the utmost respect and
deference throughout the whole proceedings, gallantly waived his right
to address the jury first, and I proceeded with my closing speech as
follows:--
“GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY:
“I now deem it right and proper that you should know something of Mrs.
Douglass, who stands before you charged with violating your laws. I do
not plead guilty to this charge, for, in my opinion, to be a violator
of any law or laws, the individual must know that they are such, which
I did not, and had abundant precedents among those who should have
known it, if they were such, for what I did. I am a Southern woman by
birth, education, and feeling. I have been a slaveholder myself, and
I would be again, if I felt so disposed. I am a native of and have
always resided in a Southern slave State. The house of my childhood is
as dear to me as my life, and I am as deeply interested in the welfare
of Virginia, and of the whole united Southern slave States, as I am
in the State of South Carolina; yes, and a great deal more so than
very many who call themselves men. I am no abolitionist, neither am
I a fanatic, and I am by education as strongly opposed as you are to
the interference of Northern anti-slavery men with our institutions,
although I believe that their principles are based on a religious
foundation. I deem it the duty of every Southerner, morally and
religiously, to instruct his slaves, that they may know their duties
to their masters, and to their common God. Let the masters first do
their duty to them, for they are still our slaves and servants, whether
bond or free, and can be nothing else in our community. Let us not
quarrel with our neighbors, but rather look around us and see what we
have ourselves to do that we have left undone so long. I am a strong
advocate for the religious and moral instruction of the whole human
family. I have always instructed my own slaves, and will continue to do
so as long as I remain in a slave State. Still, I am not disposed to
violate the laws of any people or place where I may chance to reside.
I cannot believe for a moment that this prosecution is a mere matter
of dollars and cents, or that there is not one truly good and noble
hearted man among you. Oh no; this I cannot and will not believe. Then
let it be the welfare of your people and your country that you seek,
and I am with you, heart and soul. This is a matter that calls for the
consideration of every true and noble heart--the common welfare of our
people. So far as my knowledge of human nature extends, the man who is
born a coward, nursed in the lap of ignorance, and brought up a coward,
naturally dies a coward. The application of this I leave to yourselves.
“The children whom I had for instruction were members of Christ’s
Church Sunday-school. My own little servant was handed a primer by one
of the teachers of that school, with the instruction that he must study
his book, and attend the Sunday-school. He was made ready by myself or
daughter, and sent every afternoon with his book, to that school. This
was done for two years before I interested myself in these children
in the form of a regular day-school. I believe it is not expected
that ladies will come to the Court House to learn the laws, rules,
and regulations of a city in which they may happen to reside. In my
opinion, whatever the religious portion of the community is engaged in
doing, whether in city, town, or country, is generally considered as
lawful and proper. We took care of those children, visited them when
sick, and ministered to their wants, and it was a pleasure for us to do
so. Was there any thing wrong in this?
“Let us look into the situation of our colored population in city of
Norfolk, for they are not dumb brutes. If they were, they would be
more carefully considered, and their welfare better provided for. For
instance, two or three of these people are not allowed to assemble
together by themselves, whether in sickness or in health. There is no
provision made for them, whatever the circumstances may be, and such
meetings are pronounced unlawful and treasonable. Think you, gentlemen,
that there is not misery and distress among these people? Yes, indeed,
misery enough, and frequently starvation. Even those that are called
free are heavily taxed, and their privileges greatly limited; and
when they are sick, or in want, on whom does the duty devolve to seek
them out and administer to their necessities? Does it fall upon you,
gentlemen? Oh no, it is not expected that gentlemen will take the
trouble to seek out a negro hut for the purpose of alleviating the
wretchedness he may find within it. Why then persecute your benevolent
ladies for doing that which you yourselves have so long neglected?
Shall we treat our slaves with less compassion than we do the cattle in
our fields?
“In my opinion, we have nothing to fear from the true blooded negro.
It is the half-breed, or those with more or less white blood in
their veins, whom I have always found presumptuous, treacherous and
revengeful. And do you blame them for this? How can you? Ask yourselves
the cause. Ask how that white blood got beneath those tawny skins, and
let nature herself account for the exhibition of these instincts. Blame
the authors of this devilish mischief, but not the innocent victims of
it.
“As for myself, I shall keep on with my good work; not, however,
by continuing to violate what I now know to be your laws, but by
endeavoring to teach the colored race humility and a prayerful spirit,
how to bear their sufferings as our Saviour bore his for us all. I will
teach them their duty to their superiors, how to live, and how to die.
And now, if ignorance of your peculiar laws is not a sufficient excuse
for my violation of the letter of them, surely my good intentions,
and the abundant examples set before me by your most worthy and pious
citizens, ought to convince you that I was actuated by no improper
motives, and had no ulterior designs against the peace and dignity of
your Commonwealth. But, if otherwise, there are your laws: enforce
them to the letter. You may send me, if you so decide, to that cold
and gloomy prison. I can be as happy there as I am in my quiet little
home; and, in the pursuit of knowledge, and with the resources of
a well-stored mind, I shall be, gentlemen, a sufficient companion
for myself. Of one consolation you cannot deprive me: I go not as a
convicted felon, for I have violated no tittle of any one of the laws
that are embodied in the Divine Decalogue; I shall be only a single
sufferer under the operation of one of the most inhuman and unjust laws
that ever disgraced the statute book of a civilized community.”
I here closed my remarks, after saying that if any counsellor present
was disposed to speak in my behalf, he should receive my grateful
thanks; but, no one responding, I passed into the jury-room, to await
the result. I was informed that the Prosecuting Attorney made but a
few remarks, not urging a conviction very strongly, but, of course,
as in duty bound, correctly stating the law, in the case, to the
jury. A number of gentlemen present came to me and tendered their
congratulations on my address to the jury. I had spoken in a loud and
distinct voice, duly emphasizing my words that they might have their
full effect. I had spoken for nearly three-quarters of an hour, and
felt somewhat exhausted, but by no means unnerved.
It was not long before I was informed that the jury were not likely
to agree immediately upon a verdict, and I therefore returned home.
They had some difficulty in coming to a unanimous verdict, and it
was not until the morning of the third day that they rendered one of
Guilty, but fixing the fine at one dollar, instead of one hundred.
This verdict was to have been expected. There was no denial that the
law, as it stood, had been disobeyed by me, and a verdict of guilty on
the charge, as preferred, was therefore inevitable. The jury had it in
their power to reduce the fine to a mere nominal sum, which they did,
also fully believing that the judge would exercise the same discretion,
and entirely remit the imprisonment attached to the offence. This was
also the universal belief as well as general desire on the part of the
community. I was not sent for on the rendition of the verdict; and, the
court, having to adjourn, my sentence in form was deferred until the
10th day of January, 1854.
In order that the fidelity of my narrative may be attested by the
evidence of the Virginians themselves, I will here insert an article
that appeared in the Petersburg _Daily Express_, dated November 30th,
1853, and which was made up chiefly from the Norfolk _Daily News_. It
was headed “Her Own Lawyer,” and I give it _verbatim_:--
“Quite a novel and highly interesting case has recently been tried
before Judge Baker at Norfolk City. A Mrs. Margaret Douglass, formerly
of Charleston, S. C., was arraigned one day last week, on a charge of
teaching negro children to read and write, contrary to the statute in
such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the
Commonwealth.
“By some means or other, as we learn from the ‘Daily News,’ a report
had been previously circulated that the lady had determined not to
employ the services of counsel, but to rely solely upon her own legal
abilities in conducting her defence. This, as a matter of course,
filled the court-room with persons anxious to witness the novel
spectacle, and when she entered the court-room and took her seat among
the lawyers, a most profound sensation was created.
“The jury had no sooner been empanneled, than the lady, without
waiting for the examination of witnesses, or the opening remarks of
the Attorney for the Commonwealth, proceeded in a clear and melodious
voice, to the consideration of the charges set forth in the indictment.
“The surprise of the whole legal fraternity was so great, at this
sudden revolution in the time honored practice of the Courts, that
she had progressed considerably into the merits of the case, before
his Honor recovered himself sufficiently to inform her, that it would
be more regular to suspend her remarks until after the examination of
witnesses was concluded. The lady readily assented to the proposition
of his Honor, and the witnesses for the Commonwealth were called to
the stand. By their testimony, it appeared that, some months ago,
information reached his Honor, the Mayor, Simon S. Stubbs, Esq., of
a school for the education of blacks, being in successful operation
in the city of Norfolk, under the superintendence of Mrs. Douglass.
A warrant was immediately issued, with directions to the officers to
bring all parties concerned before him, in order that the matter might
be investigated. Upon repairing to the residence of Mrs. Douglass, the
officers found some eighteen or twenty youthful descendents of Ham
engaged in literary pursuits, all of whom, with their teachers, Mrs.
Douglass and her daughter, were taken into custody, and carried to the
Mayor’s office. After a full investigation of the matter, his Honor
decided to dismiss the complaint in order that a Grand Jury might have
an opportunity of giving it consideration. At the meeting of the Grand
Jury a true bill was found against Mrs. Douglass and her daughter,
but the latter having previously gone to New York, process could not
be served upon her. On the part of the defence, the lady examined
several prominent and respectable gentlemen, members of the Church, for
the purpose of showing that the practice of teaching blacks had been
sanctified by the customs of the members of the different churches in
the city in having Sunday-schools exclusively for that purpose. It did
not appear from the evidence of any of the gentlemen called upon by
Mrs. Douglass, that 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 to a violent suspicion that many of the ladies
and gentlemen of our city, moving in the higher circles of society, had
been guilty of as flagrant a violation of the law, as could be imputed
to Mrs. Douglass and her daughter.
“At the conclusion of the evidence, the attorney for the Commonwealth
kindly gave way for Mrs. Douglass to continue her appeal to the Jury,
which was done on the part of that lady, in a manner that would have
reflected credit on Miss Lucy Stone, or any other member of the ‘strong
minded’ sisterhood. She disdained to deny the charge preferred against
her, or to shirk the responsibility in any way whatever, but gloried
in the philanthropic duties in which she had been engaged. She denied,
however, any knowledge of the existing laws upon the subject, and
confidently expected that the jury would not pronounce her guilty, for
having committed no other offence than that of being betrayed into
error--if such it was--by what she had deemed distinguished precedents.
Having concluded her address she retired from the court, and the case
was briefly concluded by the Attorney for the Commonwealth.
“The jury, being unable to agree upon a verdict the first day of the
trial, were adjourned over until next morning, when they found the
defendant guilty, and fined her one dollar.
“The _Beacon_ says, the Judge in passing sentence, according to the
statute, will condemn her to imprisonment for not less than six months.”
During the interval that occurred between my conviction and the
sentence of the Court, I obtained permission from the Court and Sheriff
to visit New York, where I remained two weeks, and then returned with
my daughter. This being so contrary to the expectations and wishes of
the authorities and other public men of Norfolk, who were extremely
anxious that I should never return, in order that, by branding me as
a fugitive from justice, they might escape the disgrace and odium
already attached to their proceedings, and thus get cleverly out
of the difficulty; they were exceedingly incensed, and commenced a
series of persecutions in the shape of personal attacks in some of
the Norfolk papers, particularly the _Courier_ and the _Argus_. The
editor of the _Courier_, W. Wallace Davis, was the ringleader in this
movement, and was frequently in the habit of disgracing himself and his
paper, and insulting the better class of the community, by indulging
in such diatribes as no gentleman would ever suffer himself to be
guilty of. It would seem as though the justice of Heaven had speedily
overtaken him with its retributions, for it is but a few weeks ago
that he died suddenly, as it is said from the effects of some great
mental suffering, and it is not ungenerous to suppose that the stings
of conscience, when he reflected upon his inhuman course towards me,
became severer than he could endure. I leave him with his God.
To show that such were the wishes of the authorities and others, I
quote the following passage from the Norfolk _Argus_, under date of
February 9th, 1854. I quote the whole of the article here, though
portions of it have reference to what occurred subsequently, as I
may have, occasion to refer to the other passages. It is headed
“Commonwealth _vs._ Mrs. Douglass,” and reads as follows:
“We publish to-day the judgment of Hon. Judge Baker in the case of
Mrs. Douglass, which has much excited our citizens. The first time
within the passage of the act forbidding the teaching of slaves or free
colored persons to read or write, has a case of this description come
under the jurisdiction of our Court, and it was singular that this case
should be a woman. The jury found a verdict of guilty, and the law
had to be sustained. Sympathy was aroused for Mrs. Douglass. It was
revolting to the citizens to have a woman imprisoned in our jail, and
every inducement was offered Mrs. Douglass to escape the punishment.
The Court was obliged to adjourn its judgment over, and although a
_capias_ was awarded, yet it was the hope and wish of every one that
she would leave the city. But no; ‘a martyr’ she ‘would be to the cause
of benevolence;’ and to cap the climax, she brought her daughter, a
maiden of some seventeen summers, who had obeyed the injunctions of
her mother, as a child should, to try the stern realities of the laws,
and, to use her own language in defending her cause, ‘to glory in works
of benevolence and charity to a race down-trodden.’ Then sympathy
departed, and in the breast of every one rose a righteous indignation
towards a person who would throw contempt in the face of our laws, and
brave the imprisonment for ‘the cause of humanity.’
“The decision of Judge Baker is cogent and pungent, and will be read
with interest. The laws must be upheld. It is not for the Judge to
set upon the constitutionality or justice of the law; it is for him a
sacred duty to impose the punishment meted out in the code. Virginia
must keep in restraint the wire-workings of abolition sentiments. We
have in this town suffered much from the aggression of Northern foes,
and a strong cordon must encircle our domestic institutions. We must
preserve from discord and angry passions our firesides and homesteads.
We must preserve inviolate the majesty of laws necessary for the
protection of our rights; and there is no one of intelligence and
foresight who will pronounce the judgment unrighteous.
“Mrs. Douglass’s time will run out this week, and we have heard it
stated from good authority, that her imprisonment will be a pecuniary
reward to her. We hope that our citizens will prevent by all possible
means any attempt to aid this woman, but let her depart hence with only
one wish, that her presence will never be intruded upon us again. Let
her seek her associates at the North, and with them commingle, but let
us put a check to such mischievous views as fell from her lips last
November, sentiments unworthy a resident of the State, and in direct
rebellion against our Constitution.”
My readers will perceive two important concessions in this article;
first, that mine was the first case that had ever been tried under
that peculiar act since its passage, and that public sympathy was
strongly excited in my favor: and secondly, that it was the hope and
wish of every one that I should leave the city, and thus enable them
to escape from the dilemma in which they were placed. Now, I submit to
my readers whether it was not asking a little too much of me, that I
should voluntarily allow myself to be branded as an escaped fugitive,
and subject myself to be advertised as such in every newspaper in the
country, have a price set upon my head, and be hourly liable to arrest
by any officer, who thought it worth the trouble, wherever I might be.
No, I was no coward; and, rather than place myself in such a position
as that, I would have suffered my right hand to be cut off.
It must be said, however, that neither I, nor any one else, ever
supposed for a moment, that I should receive any further punishment for
my offence than the infliction of the nominal fine already fixed by
the verdict of the jury. Justice did not require it, nor the cause of
morality. My character was such that there was no cause to fear that
I should break my pledge, and attempt to renew my school; and common
gallantry alone should have led any gentleman, much more a dignified
Judge, in whose sole discretion the matter rested, to have dealt with
a woman as leniently as the strict letter of the law would allow. I
rested in perfect security until the 10th day of January, 1854, when I
was called before the Court, and received from Judge Baker, not only
an unnecessarily long and discourteous reprimand, but a sentence to an
imprisonment of one month in the city jail!
So astounded were the whole community at the shameless impudence of
such a sentence, from a Judge whose own family had been engaged in
the very same acts for which I was punished, that a number of the
most respectable members of the Norfolk bar requested a copy of Judge
Baker’s decision for publication, which correspondence, with the
decision as then published, I here give entire:--
COMMONWEALTH vs. MARGARET DOUGLASS.
HON. RICHARD H. BAKER:
Dear Sir--The undersigned, members of the Norfolk Bar, earnestly ask at
your hands a copy of the judgment this day pronounced in the case of
Commonwealth _vs._ Douglass, for publication.
TAZEWELL TAYLOR,
M. COOKE,
H. WOODIS,
WM. G. DUNBAR,
SIMON S. STUBBS,
WM. T. HENDREN,
JNO. S. LOVETT,
P. P. MAYO.
_Jan. 10th, 1854._
“DECISION.
Upon an indictment previously found against you, for assembling with
negroes to instruct them to read or write, and for associating with
them in an unlawful assembly, you were found guilty, and a mere nominal
fine imposed, on the last day of this Court held in the month of
November. At the time the jury came in and rendered their verdict you
were not in Court, and the Court being about to adjourn for the purpose
of attending to other official duties in a distant part of the State,
it was necessary and proper, under the law, to award a _capias_ against
you, returnable to the present adjourned term, so that the judgment and
sentence of the law may be fulfilled. The Court is not called on to
vindicate the policy of the law in question, for so long as it remains
upon the statute book, and unrepealed, public and private justice and
morality require that it should be respected and sustained. There are
persons, I believe, in our community, opposed to the policy of the
law in question. They profess to believe that universal intellectual
culture is necessary to religious instruction and education, and that
such culture is suitable to a state of slavery; and there can be no
misapprehension as to your opinions on this subject, judging from the
indiscreet freedom with which you spoke of your regard for the colored
race in general. Such opinions in the present state of our society I
regard as manifestly mischievous. It is not true that our slaves cannot
be taught religious and moral duty, without being able to read the
Bible and use the pen. Intellectual and religious instruction often
go hand in hand, but the latter may well exist without the former;
and the truth of this is abundantly vindicated by the well-known fact
that in many parts of our own Commonwealth, as in other parts of the
country in which among the whites one-fourth or more are entirely
without a knowledge of letters, respect for the law, and for moral and
religious conduct and behaviour, are justly and properly appreciated
and practised.
“A valuable report or document recently published in the city of
New York, by the Southern Aid Society, sets forth many valuable and
important truths upon the condition of the Southern slaves, and the
utility of moral and religious instruction, apart from a knowledge of
books. I recommend the careful perusal of it to all whose opinions
concur with your own. It shows that a system of catechetical
instruction, with a clear and simple exposition of Scripture, has been
employed with gratifying success; that the slave population of the
South are peculiarly susceptible of good religious influences. Their
mere residence among a Christian people has wrought a great and happy
change in their condition: they have been raised from the night of
heathenism to the light of Christianity, and thousands of them have
been brought to a saving knowledge of the Gospel.
“Of the one hundred millions of the negro race, there cannot be found
another so large a body as the three millions of slaves in the United
States, at once so intelligent, so inclined to the Gospel, and so
blessed by the elevating influence of civilization and Christianity.
Occasional instances of cruelty and oppression, it is true, may
sometimes occur, and probably will ever continue to take place under
any system of laws: but this is not confined to wrongs committed upon
the negro; wrongs are committed and cruelly practised in a like degree
by the lawless white man upon his own color; and while the negroes
of our town and State are known to be surrounded by most of the
substantial comforts of life, and invited both by precept and example
to participate in proper, moral and religious duties, it argues, it
seems to me, a sickly sensibility towards them to say their persons,
and feelings, and interests are not sufficiently respected by our laws,
which, in effect, tend to nullify the act of our Legislature passed for
the security and protection of their masters.
“The law under which you have been tried and found guilty is not
to be found among the original enactments of our Legislature. The
first legislative provision upon this subject was introduced in the
year 1831, immediately succeeding the bloody scenes of the memorable
Southampton insurrection; and that law being found not sufficiently
penal to check the wrongs complained of, was re-enacted with additional
penalties in the year 1848, which last mentioned act, after several
years trial and experience, has been re-affirmed by adoption, and
incorporated into our present code. After these several and repeated
recognitions of the wisdom and propriety of the said act, it may well
be said that bold and open opposition to it is a matter not to be
slightly regarded, especially as we have reason to believe that every
Southern slave State in our country, as a measure of self-preservation
and protection, has deemed it wise and just to adopt laws with similar
provisions.
“There might have been no occasion for such enactments in Virginia,
or elsewhere, on the subject of negro education, but as a matter of
self-defence against the schemes of Northern incendiaries, and the
outcry against holding our slaves in bondage. Many now living well
remember how, and when, and why the anti-slavery fury began, and by
what means its manifestations were made public. Our mails were clogged
with abolition pamphlets and inflammatory documents, to be distributed
among our Southern negroes to induce them to cut our throats.
Sometimes, it may be, these libelous documents were distributed by
Northern citizens professing Southern feelings, and at other times by
Southern people professing Northern feelings. These, however, were
not the only means resorted to by the Northern fanatics to stir up
insubordination among our slaves. They scattered far and near pocket
handkerchiefs, and other similar articles, with frightful engravings,
and printed over with anti-slavery nonsense, with the view to work upon
the feeling and ignorance of our negroes, who otherwise would have
remained comfortable and happy. Under such circumstances there was but
one measure of protection for the South, and that was adopted.
“Teaching the negroes to read and write is made penal by the laws of
our State. The act imposes a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, to
be ascertained by the jury, and imprisonment not exceeding six months,
to be fixed and ascertained by the Court. And now, since the jury in
your case has in my opinion properly settled the question of guilt,
it devolves on me, under the law, to ascertain and decide upon the
quantum of imprisonment under the circumstances of your trial and I
exceedingly regret, that in being called on _for the first time_ to act
under the law in question, it becomes my duty to impose the required
punishment upon a female, apparently of fair and respectable standing
in the community. The only mitigating circumstance in your case, if in
truth there be any, according to my best reason and understanding of
it, is that to which I have just refered, namely, you being a female.
Under the circumstances of this case, if you were of a different sex,
I should regard the full punishment of six months imprisonment as
eminently just and proper. Had you taken the advice of your friends
and of the Court, and had employed council to defend you, your case
no doubt, would have been presented in a far more favorable light
both to the Court and to the jury. The opinions you advanced, and the
pertinacity and zeal you manifested in behalf of the negroes, while
they indicated perfect candor and sincerity on your part, satisfied
the Court, and must have satisfied all who heard you, that the act
complained of was the settled and deliberate purpose of your mind,
regardless of consequences, however dangerous to our peace.
“In conformity with these views, I am impelled by a feeling of common
honesty, to say that this is not a case in which a mere formal judgment
should be announced as the opinion of the Court. Something more
substantial under the circumstances of this case, I think, is demanded
and required. The discretionary power to imprison for the term of six
months or less, in good sense and sound morality, does not authorise
a mere minimum punishment, such as imprisonment for a day or week, in
a case in which the question of guilt is free from doubt, and there
are many facts and circumstances of aggravation. A judgment of that
sort, therefore, in this case, would doubtless be regarded by all true
advocates of justice and law as mere mockery. It would be no terror to
those who acknowledge no rule of action but their own evil will and
pleasure, but would rather invite to still bolder incendiary movements.
For these reasons, as an example to all others in like cases disposed
to offend, and in vindication of the policy and justness of our laws,
which every individual should be taught to respect, the judgment of
the Court is, in addition to the proper fine and costs, that you be
imprisoned for the period of one month in the jail of this city.”
It is hardly necessary for me to dwell upon my feelings when I received
this unexpected sentence. They were of course more interesting to
me than to my readers. My narrative of the history of the case here
properly terminates, it being only necessary for me to state that I
was immediately incarcerated, and spent the month within the walls of
a prison, one week of which was passed in sickness. I received every
allowable attention from the jailor and his amiable wife, and even
remained with them a day or two after my sentence expired.
All social ties that bound me to the people of Virginia were sundered
by this act; I was free from any obligation due to their laws, and
felt that I could be of no farther service to any one, whether white
or colored. I therefore gathered together my little household goods,
and, in the month of February last, removed with my daughter to the
City of Philadelphia, where we are now quietly residing, happy in the
consciousness that it is here no crime to teach a poor little child, of
any color, to read the Word of God.
My readers will naturally expect from me sundry reflections in
connection with my personal narrative. The subject itself naturally
induces them, and I should be untrue to myself if I, a Southern woman,
did not address the Southern people in terms which the occasion and
circumstances justify. My remarks will be desultory and disconnected,
as I am merely to record such thoughts as have occurred to me not only
during the time that has passed since my conviction, but which had been
previously forced upon me by carefully examining the condition of the
Southern people in all their relations.
Many laws in Virginia, as elsewhere, have become _dead-letters_. Even
in Norfolk itself, as well as generally throughout the State, the
particular law infringed unknowingly by me, had long been held as
such, and was violated daily and hourly by those who were regarded as
leaders in society, in morals and in religion. But the opportunity was
so good a one to make _me_ a victim, a sacrifice in expiation of all
past offences and offenders, that it could not be overlooked. Caught
and bound, I was laid upon the altar of the law, but did not experience
the good fortune of Isaac. There was the fire and the wood--heartless
judge and quibbling lawyers, and I was immolated. Was not such justice
chivalrous? Were not such lawyers magnanimous?
Here is presented a somewhat singular state of things to exist in a
State professing to be the most gallant and dignified of the whole
Confederacy. A large number of negroes, amounting in value to between
fifty and one hundred thousand dollars, have, within a short time, made
their escape from Norfolk to a Northern port. This is a grievously
sore evil, and decidedly practical loss. But what is the plan pursued?
Why, after failing to secure a portion of them, all further efforts to
obtain them are given up, and pure listlessness and indifference take
the place of an active interest in favor of recovering or protecting
their property. A meeting, advertised to call together slave-owners
to suggest some plan of redress, meets with but a meagre and partial
response, and the matter ends by permitting the whole outrage and
grievance to die away among the idlest trifles of the day.
On the other hand, a _lady_ is caught, detected, entrapped, following
in the wake of others, teaching a few free negroes to spell and
read their Sunday lessons, and upon proof thereof, is put into a
felon’s prison, and the ignominy, disgrace, and infamy even of a base
criminal are said to be hers, by the bench and the press. If Northern
vessels bear away the slaves of Norfolk, the height of revenge and
recrimination seem to be found in venting upon a _Southern lady’s_
head the vindictiveness of individuals and the violence of the law.
If Northern marshals refuse to perform their duties as slave-catchers
under the Fugitive law, the whole matter, after a little feeling, is
allowed to be forgotten; but, let a Southern lady presume to obey some
of the gentlest and purest instincts of her nature and the teachings of
charity, by instructing a few free black urchins of both sexes to read
their Bibles, and the penalties of the law are visited upon her head,
without any compunctions of conscience, any attention to the monitions
of gallantry, or any regard to the restraints of a refined delicacy.
Alas! for the boasted honor and honesty of the old Virginia nobility!
Here is a view of the case that may not be unworthy of attention: It
is the energy of the white man that has made this country what it is,
and his _alone_ that will make it what it is to be. To the sinew, the
nerve, the strong arm, the moral and physical courage, and the genius
of the Anglo-Saxon race, is the world indebted for the grand spectacle
we now present as a great, happy and prosperous people; and to the same
ennobling elements and excellencies in the composition of the white
man will the vast republican empire, now spreading its arms over the
whole earth, be indebted for its existence and perpetuation. Holding
this view, it cannot be then said that I was educating negroes as
rivals or competitors of my brothers and sisters of a superior race.
Holding to this opinion, with a tenacity that is as inseparable from my
judgment as is color from the Ethiopian,--knowing, as I do, from all
history as well as all cotemporary observation and record, that the
Caucasian race are the “most godlike,” and the authors of all in the
arts and sciences that contributes most to man’s more refined tastes,
pleasures, and ambition. I am sure that I could not, South nor North,
attempt to change the “Ethiopian’s skin” in the vain endeavor to make
him an equal--socially, politically, or even morally--with my own race.
No such thing, however, was charged upon me. My offence consisted in
teaching a few poor colored children, free by the laws of their own
State, to read the Bible, the very book on which the institutions of
our land are based. Common charity, then, would have attributed to
me only a feeling of sympathy for a lower order of society; common
charity, as had been the case before, in Virginia, would have looked
with a lenient eye upon what _the want of all charity_ construed into a
crime!
I feel impelled here to review briefly the decision of Judge Baker,
in my case, and to make such remarks upon it as may seem pertinent.
It will be seen that the letter requesting a copy of the decision for
publication is signed by a number of the most respectable citizens of
Norfolk, and an attempt has been made to identify them as entertaining
the same opinions, and possessing the same want of sympathy, as the
Judge himself. I am happy, however, to inform my readers that such is
not the case. They, in common with the rest of the sensible portion
of the community, were astounded by the decision, and merely desired
to have on record the exact language and sentiments of this strange
dispenser of justice, in order that they might know henceforth in what
light to regard him. That he insulted the good sense and generous
nature of the community in which he lived by so cowardly and unmanly
a decision, and especially by his needless and uncalled for tirade
addressed to me on passing sentence, he now well knows. The community
have already placed the proper estimate upon him, and he is writhing
under the double infliction of their contempt, and the stings of his
own conscience. I have already stated the sudden and mysterious death
of Mr. Davis, one of my bitterest persecutors, and am also informed
that Judge Baker, since the rendering of his decision in my case, “has
never been of exactly as equable and pleasant a frame of mind, but
much more morose, snarlish, and nervous.” Poor man! He certainly has
sufficient cause to be so.
The Judge admits in his decision, that there are persons in that
community opposed to the policy of the law in question, and who
believe that universal intellectual culture is necessary to religious
instruction and education, and that such culture is suitable to a
state of slavery. He, however, embraces the opportunity to state that
he regards such opinions as “manifestly mischievous.” Hear, oh Earth!
A Judge, in the most enlightened country in the world, and in the
nineteenth century, believes that the intellectual culture of human
beings is a crime! He professes to hold the Bible to be the word of
God, and the very bulwark of our institutions--from it he derives the
right to hold a portion of human beings in bondage--in it he sees the
Divine command to every human soul to “search the Scriptures,” and yet
says that a certain portion of the world must not obey this command,
and that it is a crime to teach them to do so! Admirable logic! Oh,
most righteous Judge! His real character may be better seen revealed
in a subsequent sentence, wherein he argues that there is more respect
for the law and for moral and religious conduct and behavior in those
sections of Virginia, where even among the whites one-fourth or more
are entirely without a knowledge of letters. Why, this man’s avowed
principles would do away with education of any kind for any class of
people! He would see his own State, proud and haughty Virginia, return
to a state of barbarism, and completely shrouded in a pall of mental
darkness! This is the inevitable conclusion from his own words. Is
Norfolk, that little corner of the great Commonwealth, so far behind
the age as to desire a state of things so earnestly deprecated in other
sections of the State? Or is this sapient Judge alone the entertainer
of such sentiments? Does he not know that the people throughout the old
Commonwealth have become alarmed at their rapid degradation, and are
petitioning their Legislature to devise measures to stop the downward
tendency to utter ignorance? Has he never seen this short but momentous
sentence, originally published in the Richmond _Whig_ of April 3d,
1854, viz:
“Every decade exhibits a rapid and fearful increase of this mass of
ignorance. In 1840, the number of the unlettered in Virginia amounted
to sixty thousand. In 1850, it exceeded eighty thousand. At this rate,
it will not require many centuries to extinguish all knowledge of
letters in the State.”
Here is a fact that every Virginian should ponder well. There is no
doubt as to the data, and less as to the result, unless something is
done at once to stay this doward current. Let them study the _real
cause_ of this state of things, and not attribute it to any but
the right one. Is the way to remove the evil properly commenced by
imprisoning a woman for teaching a few little children to read? Again I
say, oh, most righteous Judge!
But the hardihood of Judge Baker was evinced in his using the language
quoted, when he knew that his most intimate friends, and even members
of his own family had been and were engaged in doing with impunity
what in me was a crime. How he can reconcile his treatment of me with
his conscience, when he remembers this fact, is best known to himself.
Probably his usual admirable logic will help him out of the dilemma. I
am sure I cannot.
The learned Judge grows remarkably religious as he proceeds. He admits
that “the slave population of the South are peculiarly susceptible
of good religious influences.” He even dares to say that “their mere
residence among a Christian people has wrought a great and happy change
in their condition: they have been raised from the night of Heathenism
to the light of Christianity, and thousands of them have been brought
to a saving knowledge of the Gospel. Of the one hundred millions of
the negro race, there cannot be found another so large a body as the
three millions of slaves in the United States, at once so intelligent,
so inclined to the Gospel, and so blest by the elevating influences
of civilization and Christianity.” Allow me, oh wonderful judge! to
ask you one simple question, which I much fear even your logic will
be puzzled to answer. If such be the character and condition of the
slave population, and the more, (as by your own showing,) they become
acquainted with the principles of the Gospel, the more they conform
to them, how is it that you regard as a crime, the giving them the
instruction necessary to accomplish this purpose? Which horn of this
dilemma will your Honor choose to be impaled upon? Sorry am I to be
compelled to contradict a professed gentleman, but your Honor knew
that you were telling an untruth when you uttered that sentence, and
you knew also the _cause_ of the misery and degradation among Southern
slaves, producing as it does a state of things which may well lead you
to fear to have them instructed in any thing. I know that cause, also,
and I am going to tell it boldly to my Southern brothers and sisters
before I close my present labor.
You are pleased to term the exercise of the commonest dictates of
humanity in me a “sickly sensibility” towards the colored race. Be it
so. But I require the aid of no physician to heal me, and rather, would
to God that my disease were contagious, and that I could therewith
infect the entire South. A little portion of the _virus_ might perhaps
not be unavailable even in your veins. If it be a “sickly sensibility”
to yearn to impart to immortal souls, that instruction necessary to
guide them through life and upwards towards heaven, I confess that I am
guilty. This is the head and front of my offending--no less--no more.
The decision admits that the enactment under which I suffered was
not to be found in the original code of Virginia, but the result of
the experience and wisdom of the later inhabitants of that State.
Certainly, the framers of the original laws of the old Commonwealth
were men of too much sense and foresight, too Christian, too civilized,
too human, to incorporate such a disgraceful law into their rules
of government. That task was left to their degenerate sons of the
present decade, and even then it could not be accomplished until
eighty thousand of them had returned into that mental obscurity that
characterized the dark ages. The law, on its very face, indicates that
it was not the offspring of men of intelligence or common prudence.
Any law declaring that any portion of human beings shall be denied
the benefits of education, must spring from ignorance and error, and
must inevitably lead to the same results universally. The defender of
such a law voluntarily classes himself with those who made it, and
those against whom it especially operates. Such a man is the Honorable
Richard H. Baker.
The next paragraph of this venerable decision is so strangely
constructed that I hardly know what to say of it. The Judge literally
foams at the mouth and presents sad symptoms of hydrophobia. The
expressions “Northern incendiaries,” “anti-slavery fury,” “inflammatory
documents,” “cut-throats,” “Northern fanatics,” “anti-slavery
nonsense,” &c., make up the entire paragraph. His Honor grows pale
over a poor little inoffensive piece of muslin, with a picture upon it
which he denominates “frightful.” He succeeds in working himself into a
perfect fury, and about what? With nothing that I can see with which I,
or the question before him, had anything to do. _I_ was not a Northern
incendiary or fanatic, nor did I distribute any inflammatory documents
or anti-slavery nonsense. I was a Southern woman, in every sense of the
word, and he knew it. I used no books, except the Bible, or those which
illustrated it, and he knew this also. The only escape for his honor is
that he denounces the Bible as an inflammatory or incendiary document,
and as such must not be taught to the slaves.
The Judge next regrets that I am a woman, for the modicum of
gentlemanly honor and dignity which he has left, prevents him from
exercising the full bent of his inclinations, and inflicting upon me
the full penalty of the violated law. It is a pity he remembered that
I was of the weaker sex, and I feel that I have no thanks to offer him
for his proposed lenity, for, under the circumstances of the case, an
imprisonment for six months would have been no severer than the one
for thirty days. He admits that the jury had the power to regulate
the amount of the fine, but claims that it was his prerogative to
name the term of my imprisonment. The jury, it will be seen, made the
fine merely nominal, thus attesting in the most emphatic manner their
appreciation of the merits of the case. There was not a man on that
jury who was not fully as capable of judging of right and wrong, as was
he who occupied the bench. And yet he, this one man, had the hardihood
to set his judgment over theirs, and virtually insult the whole twelve,
by inflicting a punishment so severe that it was no charity to me not
to have exercised his power to the fullest extent. He admits that I
was of fair and respectable standing in the community, and knew from
the evidence, as well as from his own knowledge, that I had abundant
precedents for what I had done, and that, knowing the law, I had no
intention of again violating it; also, that the feeling of the entire
community was in my favor, and yet he wantonly, needlessly, and
inhumanly exercised the authority with which he was clothed, in order
to make an example of me, when I, by my forbearance, had refused to
place scores of respectable ladies and gentlemen of Norfolk, and some
of them members of his own family, in the unpleasant position which I
then occupied. He even twitted me because I had not deemed it proper to
employ counsel to defend me, intimating that my case would have been
presented in a more favorable light to the Court and jury thereby.
This shows the very blackness of his malice, for the jury did all they
could, and I do not entertain the least feeling of anger towards one of
them. They could not do otherwise than find me guilty of a violation
of the law, as it stood, but they did all in their power to render its
penalty nominal, by imposing upon me the lowest fine it recognized. It
was the Judge himself who insulted the jury by virtually telling them
their judgment was erroneous, and then he turns to me and says my case
might have been more favorably presented if I had employed counsel!
The conclusion is obvious, that he was actuated, not by a desire
to uphold the law and administer justice, but by some motive alike
discreditable to him as a Judge and a man. With this conclusion, I
leave him to settle with his own conscience. I have no disposition to
call him hard names. He has done me all the injury he could, and though
I may forgive him, I am satisfied that he never can forgive himself, or
escape from the doom to which he has already been sentenced by every
sensible and right thinking person in the community. Honorable Richard
H. Baker, Judge of the Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk, I bid you
an affectionate farewell.
I will here give to my readers a verbatim copy of the law under which
I was prosecuted and convicted. It is copied from the code of Virginia,
passed by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the
month of August, 1849, and will be found on page 747, chapter 198. It
reads as follows:--
“Section 31. Every assemblage of negroes for the purpose of religious
worship, when such worship is conducted by a negro, and every
assemblage of negroes for the purpose of instruction in reading or
writing, or in the night-time for any purpose, shall be an unlawful
assembly: any Justice may issue his warrant to any officer, or other
person, requiring him to enter any place where such assemblage may be,
and seize any negro therein; and he, or any other Justice, may order
such negro to be punished with stripes.
“Sec. 32. If a white person assemble with negroes for the purpose of
instructing them to read or write, or if _he_ associate with them in
an unlawful assembly, _he_ shall be confined in jail not exceeding six
months, and fined not exceeding one hundred dollars; and any Justice
may require _him_ to enter into a recognizance, with sufficient
security, to appear before the Circuit, County, or Corporation Court,
where the offence was committed, at its next term, to answer therefor;
and in the meantime, to keep the peace and be of good behavior.”
It will be seen from this, that in the enlightened State of Virginia,
it is a crime for one portion of human beings to worship their Maker!
Comment is unnecessary. Those men, whose moral sense was so blunted,
so destroyed, that they could pass such a law as that, could not be
expected to find much difficulty in enacting one subjecting to fine and
imprisonment any one who taught negro children their letters. The old
law, for which this is a substitute, was exceedingly explicit in this
respect, but had become a dead letter. The new one is very loose in its
language. It will be seen that the expressions “he” and “him” are used,
allowing the Judge and jury the opportunity of a strict construction
of the law, in case a lady should be concerned. Since my trial and
conviction, I have been advised by one of the most eminent counsel in
Virginia, that the Norfolk Court exceeded its powers, and violated the
law by not construing the act literally in my case. It is possible that
I may yet hold all the parties concerned responsible for their unlawful
course. At any rate, it utterly demolishes the nice theory of Judge
Baker, that he was bound to sustain the law, and leaves him without an
excuse for his unnecessary severity towards me.
I now approach a subject vitally connected with the interests of the
South and the welfare of humanity. In doing so, I have no rancor or
malice to serve, but boldly speak my mind, and tell my Southern sisters
a truth which, however they may have learned it by sad experience, has
probably never been thus presented to them before. _In this truth is
to be found the grand secret of the opposition to the instruction of
the colored race._ It therefore becomes important in connection with my
narrative. In this truth also lies the grand secret of the discontent
and rebellion among the slaves. Knowing this, it is easy to perceive
why such strenuous efforts are made to keep the colored population in
darkness and ignorance. As it is, nature herself often rebels against
what instinct teaches even the most degraded negro to be inhuman and
devilish, and if to this were added the light of intelligence afforded
by even the commonest instruction, wo to the darling system of this
offspring of the institution of slavery. This subject demands the
attention, not only of the religious population, but of statesmen and
law-makers. It is the one great evil hanging over the Southern slave
States, destroying domestic happiness and the peace of thousands. It
is summed up in the single word--_amalgamation_. This, and this only,
causes the vast extent of ignorance, degradation, and crime that lies
like a black cloud over the whole South. And the practice is more
general than even Southerners are willing to allow. While even the
Northern libertine usually revolts from the intimate society of those
in whose veins courses a drop of black blood, the Southern _gentleman_
takes them to his very bosom and revels in their fancied charms, until
satiety disgusts him, when he deliberately sells them into lower
degradation as he would a disabled horse.
It is impossible to deny that this unnatural custom prevails to a
fearful extent throughout the South. The testimony is of too positive
and personal a character to be overcome. Neither is it to be found only
in the lower order of the white population. It pervades the entire
society. Its followers are to be found among all ranks, occupations,
and professions. The white mothers and daughters of the South have
suffered under it for years--have seen their dearest affections
trampled upon--their hopes of domestic happiness destroyed, and their
future lives embittered even to agony, by those who should be all in
all to them as husband, sons and brothers. I cannot use too strong
language in reference to this subject, for I know that it will meet
with a heartfelt response from every Southern woman. I would deal
delicately with them if I could, but they know the fact, and their
hearts bleed under its knowledge, however they may have attempted to
conceal their discoveries. Southern wives know that their husbands come
to them reeking with pollution from the arms of their tawny mistresses.
Father and son seek the same sources of excitement, and alike gratify
their inhuman propensities, scarcely blushing when detected, and
recklessly defying every command of God and every tie of morality and
human affection. They have not even the paltry excuse that ordinary
liberties sometimes make, that their love is real, though illicit--the
whole practice is plainly, unequivocally, shamelessly _beastly_. Is
there any wonder then that people addicted to these habits are rapidly
returning to a state of semi-barbarism?
Is it to be supposed that the ordinary teachings of nature do not tell
the sable sons and daughters of the South that this custom is inhuman
and ungodly? Is not chastity a natural instinct, even among the worst
savage nations of the earth? Will not the natural impulses rebel
against what becomes with them a matter of force? The female slave,
however fair she may have become, by the various comminglings of her
progenitors, or whatever her mental and moral acquirements, knows that
she is a slave, and as such, powerless beneath the whims or fancies of
her master. If he casts upon her a desiring eye, she knows that she
_must_ submit. There is no way of escape, and her only thought is, that
the more gracefully she yields the stronger and longer hold she may,
perchance, retain upon the brutal appetite of her master. Still, she
_feels_ her degradation, and so do others with whom she is connected.
She has parents, brothers and sisters, a lover perhaps, all of whom
suffer through and with her, and in whose hearts spring up roots of
bitterness which are destined to grow into trees whose branches will
sooner or later overshadow the whole land.
How important, then, for these Southern sultans, that the objects
of their criminal passions should be kept in utter ignorance and
degradation. They must not read the Bible because that teaches them of
the sin of their masters. They must not worship God, for the effect
thereof would be to imbue them with a deeper horror of this great
wickedness. They must not learn to read and write, for every mental and
moral improvement only tends to bring out and improve those feelings
and emotions that already repel this gross system of sensuality
and licentiousness. Were the negroes instructed in their duties to
themselves and to each other, their obligations to their masters and
their God, and were these instructions exemplified by the consistent
lives of their masters, with the natural religious tendencies of the
negro race, the South would become the very garden of the Lord. Instead
of becoming discontented and rebellious, the very reverse would be
the case. There would be no fear of insurrections, for there would
be no inducement. But when a man, black though he be, knows that, at
any moment, he is compelled to hand over his wife, his sister, or his
daughter, to the loathsome embraces of the man whose chains he wears,
how can it be expected that he will submit without the feelings of
hatred and revenge taking possession of his heart?
I have no desire to pursue this subject farther, at present. I give
it, as the _cause_ of the discontent and rebellion among the Southern
slaves, and also as the _cause_ of the creation of that disgraceful
law, which now stands like a great black blot on the code of Virginia,
and under whose unjust application I have been made to suffer. The
subject is one that will not be suffered to rest, for I know my
Southern sisters well enough to believe that they will not much longer
rest tamely under the influences of this damning curse. I have told
them plainly of the _evil_--the _remedy_ is in their own hands.
Transcriber’s Notes
Page 6: “and, and, as she grew older,” changed to “and, as she grew
older,”
Page 8: “and that that they were” changed to “and that they were”
Page 11: “promtly visited them” changed to “promptly visited them”
Page 45: “in our commmunity” changed to “in our community”
Page 47: “both by precept an example” changed to “both by precept and
example”
Page 62: “the act literaly” changed to “the act literally”
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Educational laws of Virginia : The personal narrative of Mrs. Margaret Douglass, a southern woman, who was imprisoned for one month in the common jail of Norfolk, under the laws of Virginia, for the crime of teaching free colored children to read" ***
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