Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1861-10-15
The Congressional Election.


by ruthless invasion and large portion OF our
voting population is engaged in the glorious TASK
OF repel,ing the enemy, regular poiitlcai Can
vass is out of the question, 1t is wen that IL is
so. They have rarely been of service IN pring-
ing into the public councils our best and most
deserving men, On the contrary, they have gen.
orally been prolific of a breed OF low demagogoeS
who serve the people for the gratlicaton OF their
vanity and avarice, without any sense OF duty TO
the country. We are glad that the people are
now to be left free from all outside pressure TO
choose their representatives for Congress, anu we
satisfied that it will result in the elevation OF
men of character, intellect and requirements
upon whom the people may safely repose their
confidence in these trying times.
Being free from all party spirit, we have not
felt disposed to say word in derogation OF the
claims of any one who has been mentioned 1or
Congress in this District, nor to lavish undue
praise upon any one, yet We have felt perfectly
at liberty to express our high appreciation OF
Col. Baldwin's peculiar fitness and quallhcatlons,
and our preference for him over every one else IN
the District. This cannot be objected to by the
candidates themselves, nor by their most sensi-
tive friends. We regret that all have not felt
called upon to pursue the same course, and that
Col. B. has been made the special object of at
tack. Unable to find anything to object to in him
in the present, dor the most exacting can hardly
find it in their hearts to be dissatisfied with him
for spending his days and nights in our bleak
and lonely mountains, under the thin covering of
a tent, in presence of the enemy,) the past has
been marshalled before rs, and the dead carcass
| Of buried issues has been galvanized into SEM
blance Of life, and set up in opposition to this
living man, now at the head of the SID Regiment,
in sight of the ruthless enemy, and bending all
the energies Of his mind and body to the redemp-
tion of Virginia. To prove what This skele
ton, dragged from the grave of the past, is now
to prove, in face of such facts, that Col. Bald
win is not true to the cause of Virginia and the
South-not true to the cause of the country in
whose defence he is every day risking his life.
| Was there ever such folly? Such charge may
give his opponents an opportunity to endeavor to
manufacture political capital, but they will fail,
for such charge will never be believed by his
friends and neighbors, by the people of this Dis
| trict where he was born and reared, and where
he has given so many proofs that he is as pure
patriot and as devoted to the South as any man
that breathes.
We feel it due to him, as he is absent, to de-
fend his character while he is defending our
homes, our firesides and our families. Col. Bald
wins record public man is before the peo-
pie, and so far as this District is concerned, he
has every to believe that his record is
isfactory to them. 1t cannot be expected that a
public man will please everybody. 1t is not
here assumed that he has done so; but his course
has generally been acceptable to large maj ority
of his constituents. Some of his friends may
have thought that it would have been better had
his course, in some particulars, been different,
but they have never, for single instant, doubt
ed the honesty and patriotism Of Col. Baldwin
in whatever course he has pursued. With such a
they have been willing, and are still willing,
that he should be left in his representative ca
pacity to exercise an enlightened discretion.
But our late Government has fallen to pieces.
The Constitution Of the United States is no Ion
ger our Constitution. Whether it be wise in
strument or a sscovenant with death and COM
pact with hell,'' it is equally matter of indif-
ference to us. We live, thank God, in another
COuHIIy, Will oObtOl dHO Oluottut IuStlIuilOlS
and under different Constitution. esOld things
have passed away and all things have become
new.''
ssLet the dead past bury its dead,'' and let
US go forward and put our house in order for the
future. AS first prerequisite, let US employ
faithful stewards, that we may give, when their
work is over, the need Of praise-sswell done,
good and faithful servants
We ask, in this connection, does Col. Baldwin
furnish in his life and character any evidence
that he comes up to the requirements of the
times? I? We answer emphatically that he does.
He is STATES RIGHTS MAN-as our institutions
are now organized, and this, too, of the strctest
sect-a friend of constitutional liberty and free
institutions; an honest man and true patriot
Endowed by nature with an intellect of uncom-
mon vgor which has been carefully trained and
! cultivated, and with honor and integrity above
suspicion, he will bring to our public councils as
much honesty of purpose, irmness and vigor of
action any other man this State can furnish,
and illustrate there, as everywhere else, his deep
devotion to the public interests. A native Vir-
ginian, devoted to her cause, she has no nobler
sen. His interests are her interests, and her in
tereStS are his. mere ne was porn, mere mas his
fame neen acquired, and here, under the same
| green sod which covers the bones of his forefa-
theirs, he expects his own ashes to repose. AS
he well said in speech at Richmond last win
ter, "he did not go there with his trunk packed,
ready to leave Virginia if all lis views did not
prevail in the Convention but determined to do all
ne could to promote her interest and safety, and
| to make her DESTINY his whatever it might he ,,
Thus ne then declared himself before ssred. Battle
stamped his foot, and all nations felt the shock -
thus he has ever acted, and he is now nobly IL
Illustrating Dy deeds his words of fervid patriot
ism.
NO News from SeWeiI Mountain nor the
| GTeeHb ier River.
On the Oh inst, Gen. Rosencrantz, with the