Who Taught John Brown?
The Herald says it was Mr. Seward:Wendell Phillips that is was the Abolitionists; but Virginia has a better right to the distinction than either. If any one doubts this, let him look at the seal of the Old Dominion. We have before us an impression of this seal, countersigned by Henry A. Wise himself and by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, George W. Munford. Thousands of such impressions have been scattered through Virginia by Gov. Wise, to teach their lessons to slaveholders and slaves. What is the device? An insurgent slave, his liberty cap flaunting in the air, his left hand grasping a pike, his right hand brandishing a sword over the prostrate master whom he tramples under foot. What is the motto? “Sic semper tyrannis,” which, freely translated, means “So perish every “slaveholder,” or, more freely, “Hurrah for John “Brown!” though the popular Virginia translation is, “Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.” The religious tone of this would suit the stern old Puritan of Harper
