Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1847-06-24
.---~MARTINSRuRG
MORGAN COUNTY SPECIAL Ell ECTIoN.
ron THE HOUSE or DELEGATES,
ANDREW MICHAEL, JR.
A WORD TO VIRGINIA.

n WOhD HI tiKGINIA.
As the bugles o. party strife have sounded
a truce, and as news from the seat Of war
has been Of SO little importance of late, that it
has failed to furnish that excitement, 10 which,
we fear, the public mind has become too well
accustomed, we may improve the opportuni-
ty and ask the attention Of our readers to
what, we are sure, must intimately concern
them
We allude TO the present condition and the
future prosperity ofourgood old MotherState--
Virginia.
The most casual observer must have per
ceived, within the last few years, a disposition
among our people to seize upon those ele-
ments Of improvement and advancement,
which Nature, with an unsparing hand, has
lavishe9 upon us, and devote them TO the pro-
per and legitimate object, Of elevahng the
character and importance of the Common
wealth, and giving her position among her
sister States, worthy Of her past history. 1t
matters not, what may have been the special
moving cause of this,--whether, sudden
conviction of the necessity of action or the
promptings of an honorable emulaton-we
heartily rejoice at the result
Northern enterprise has marked out our
exhausted lands as fit fields for energy and
labor, and we have lately observed that an
emigration Agent has selected the broad and
teeming valleys Of Western Virginia, for the
abodes of hundreds of frugal and industrious
Agriculturalists from the odd Country : and
even in our own region, we daily find that
neighboring State sends many of her sons,
to seek homes in our midst. where they may
reap the rich products of their labor, and es-
cape that dreaded monster, Ereessire taxation.
In word, Virginia seems TO be shaking off
the dew drops which glitter upon her gar
ments' and arousiug herself and her energies
for vigorous struggle. Although we have
been often tainted with our apathy and mac
tivity,-alihough while others have joined in
the march of improvement, we have folded
our arms in slumber,-although we have care
less Of the present and indifferent 10 the future.
fed too long upon the glories of the past, the
hour Of our dsenthralment, has never appear
ed to US far distant. We have ever believed
that the spirit of our people would, at last, be
kindled, and that the monuments Of energy
and industry, would ultimately rear their heads
upon our soil.
In this, we believe, I'VE havenot misiudged, as
even now we perceive the beginning of the
end TO us so desirable. But, whenever we
coatemplatate our future advancement, one
reflection forces itself upon the mind. 1t is
the necessity for some general plan Of popu-
n7ucation. 1t may seem a hackneyed and
threadbare theme, but the fact sternly stares
US in the face, that Education the grand result
of which, is the development Of mind the re-
fEement Of feeling, and the elevation of char
acter, has been denied our people, until they
have become by-word of reproach.
The necessity, of some effective attention
being given to this subject, is too apparent to
need illustration. The past teaches US that
Education and improvement have ever moved
hand in hand. and the present repeats the les
son, enforcing it with many an evidence oftheir
united power. We have only TO turn to the
census Of 1910, TO show us our position in re-
gard to this, as compared with that of others.
We do not remember the Notifying details,
nor is ii necessary that we should state them.
All that is incumbent upon US is, 10 ask our
fellow citizens, if they are content 10 let the
evil remain longer without remedy? Will
they not, acting with one heart and one spirit,
devote their energies 10 work so noble, and
Taught with so much good We owe il to the
memory of the past. TO the ancient glory Of
the Commonwealth, 10 ourselves and TO those
who shall come after us, that rising up as one
man, we should wipe this stain from our es-
cutcheon. Until this is done, let us not boast
that we are pwgiaians Let us not glory in
a name borne by thousands of our brethren,
who still wear the chains OF ignorance; whose
minds are almost blank, whose visions are
clrcumscribed, whose intellects, like untrim-
med lamps, shed but feeble, Pickering ray
around them. We have alluded thus briefly,
TO this all important subject. because words
are not needed action alone can work out the
oloriouS end