Margaret Crittenden Douglass

“ 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. ”

“ 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? ”

“ 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 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 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! ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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? ”

“ 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? ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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? ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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! ”