The southern press., 1850-11-06
A New Rpooh in a tho Ola Dominion. !

"a New Epoch in the Ola Dominion"
:" What have done that mine enemies should
praise me :" was the question suggested by the
natural impulse of patriotic heart and well
may Virginia repeat it now, when the insolent
foes of the South use such language as this in
reference to her: aE
.The aversion that is manifested throughout
the entire State to the disunion schemes of
South Carolina is another proof that public SEN
| timern IN Virginia has experienced pery decided
| change Rilhin The last feio years. IL has about
done worshiping political dogmas, and abstrac-
tons, and is yielding itself more and more to
the teachings of plain practical common sense.
The people of Virginia are fast awakening to
the sober fact, that their destiny is in their own
hands; and that empty speculation must be
abandoned for earnest work, ii they would save
themselves from perpetual and most disgraceful
inferority to their Northern brethren We re-
| JOice to see the promise of ne,o epoch in the
Old Dominion. Virginia, with all her filiIings,
is still among the noblest of the States Her
revolutionary history, if nothing else, should
ensure to her the everlasting respect and good
will of the whole country. She yet possesses
talent and virtue which, if properly directed
will ultimately secure for her a greatness and
glory worthy of her ancient renown. All right
hearted Americans will surely hail with pleasure
every omen of such a consummation." @f
We quote from the New York Courier d
Enquirer, print that swears by SEWARD
and to whose editor that great embodiment q
Abolition wrote the famous letter that secured
him his seat in the Senate in consideration
of her present position this organ processes it,
readiness to forgive Virginia her past failings,'
(the Resolutions of '98)
We appeal to the pride which every Vrginiar
we'll may cherish for the State that so long and
so proudly stood in the van of the Southern
States-but which now, like Achilles, slumbers
in her tent--to repel such an impution. We
call upon THE PEOPLE of Virginia, bound by hel
politicians as Gulliyer was bythe thousand threads
of the Lilliputians, to re-assert the principles
and emulate the deeds Of their forefathers-i
they would not entitle themselves TO the pity.
ing patronage Of SEWARD and his myrmidons
and cause her to occupy position where
" Derision shall strike her forlorn,
| mockery that never shall die
While the curses of hate, and the Kisses Of scorn
| Shall burden the winds Of the sky
And proud Ger her ruin, forever be hurled
The laughter of triumph, the eers of the world. y
The beginning of a new epoch must indeed
have arrived, when in Virginia native-born citi.
zen could plead for the copstitutionality of the
Wilmot Proviso-when her Senators for faith
fully executing the instructions of her Legisla
ture, and refusing to betray and abandon the
brethren to whom Virginia had plighted hel
faith, meet with cold silence, instead of warn
approval, from portion of the constituents
whose safety and honor they had so faithfully
protected-and when an organ of Senator SEW
ARD confidently proclaims her abandonment OF
her old principles and her old friends, and hel
doci!e pupilage to the North.
The hittersst denunolatlon could not inflict
a tithe of the humiliation, which the be-
stowal of such compliment from such source
may we'll inspire in the heart of every true Vir
ginian,
Will the soil that holds the bones of PATRICK
HENRY, prove recreant to the principles that he
and his great compeers sustained in spite of the
threats of the gibbet and the cry of treason, as
Appantly used by pseudo patriots then as now
Is Virginia to become the real Rip Van Wrinkle
Of the South-or will not the same true spiri
that sustained her Senators and the majority O.
her delegation against submission sentiment
manufactured by pulling partisans at home
against them, inspire the masses Of her people
to stand up to the pledges of their State, and
wine ont the reproaoh and the shame of aban.
donng their friends their allies, and their breth
rem, in the very heat of the battle
These questions now will be asked and it be.
hooves Virginia, for the sake of her own fail
fame-for the heritage Of renown bequeathed
her-for her memories of the past and her hopes
Of the future-that they should be satisfactorily
answered right speedily, "
She must make her election between the two
contending powers-she must side with the
North or the South-she cannot stand neutral
for in these days those who are mol for US are
against as.
~ The attempts Of certain pugnacious paci-
fcators at the South to arrest the progress of the
resistance movement, reminds us irresistibly OF
the feat attempted with equal audacity, by the
hero of the following anecdote, which we find
in an exchange T..
| AN EQUAL MATCH.--"We never saw more
forcible exemplifcation of the sublime and ri
diculops,' than we witnessed to-day, while stand
ing on the railroad bridge at Yorkville, watching
the approach of train from the city. Onward