Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-08-13
Presentation OF Elacs.

-" y
and forwarded them to the Naval
forces, stationed at Gloucester Point,
aud at West Point The following details OF
tho circumstances attending the presentation
have been handed to US for publication:
WEST PoINr, YORK RIVER,
july 18th, 1881.
LADIEs:-Dr. Van Bibber of the Confederate
States Navy, attachedt to my command on York
River, will have the honor to present YOU this
nose: lie is charged 10 place in your hands
the accompanying address, which was deliver.
ed on the 18th inst, on the presentation Of
your noble gift, and the response on the part
Of its grateful recipients.
Whilc the daughters Of Virginia encourage
her SONS by such examples Of patriotism and
sell devotion, our cause, which is a holy one,
must triumph.
have the honor to be, with gratitude and
respect, your obedient servant,
Wu. c. WnIrrLE,
Commanding Naval Defsnces of York River.
ADDRESS
Dslirere2 at Vest Point, by Ar. Leigh, on
raising the Flag presented BY the Ladies Of
Richmond.
GENTLEMEN: l can only briefly alludo to the
causes which have brought about, or to the
political questions involved in, the present
national difficulties, The trainers of the Con.
~stituiion OF the late United States, fercsaw and
provided against many dangers to which the
government they we're about to put IN opera
ticn would be exposed. For one OF these the
accession to power Of a party in right OF mere
nu~mbers-they seem to have entertained a
peculiar dread. The details OF the Constitu.
ton bear witness to the care with which they
provided against such 4 contingency-ln the
mode, for instance, Of choosing the PRESIDENT,
particularly in the event that the people should
fail to elect; or in the constitution oil the Senate.
In that body, which was intruSted with q veto
over the entire legislation Of the government,
which shared with the Executive the treaty
making and the appointing powers, Delaware
had an equal vote with New York. In case,
however, that interest should ever combine in
sufficient proportion to give power to numbers
they refused TO endow the Government with
a power of military coercion-to give to the
majority the right to use the military arm OF
the Government against the minority. 1t was
thus that they hoped to preserve the peace Of
the country, on that sad day when dissolution
should ovsrtake US.
Their care and forethought were of little
avail, There were sources Of danger they did
not ~foresee, o., foresceing, could not avert. One
of these was the madness OF fanaticism. Il
corner Of our territory had originally been set
tied by religious enthusiasts, and the subtle
poison still turks in the veins Of their desccn-
dants. A lax naturalization system invited
immigration, aud the mob element received q
fearful development from the too rapid influx
Of foreigners. The laws Of climate and trade
combined to accumulate capital and numbers
in one section. Animpsities and antiDathics,
based upon conflicting interests and d iteIehl
| social Institutions, tended 10 ALLEVIATE the two
great sections into which the country was di'
vided. Party leudS assumed more and more
the character Of civil wars in disguise, and,
when at length, New England cast her fanat-
icism into the secthing caldron, the crosh came
When it camc it found numerical majority
concentrated at the North, and claiming, in
virtue OF men and numbers, the right to ab
| rogate and annul the labor system Of the
South. To have yielded TO this menstrous
pretention, would have been to submit to sub.
]usation in its worst form, without an effort
a. defence, and would justly have subject.
ed the South to the scorn Of the present and
future generations. She would have acctp pied,
without resistance, a yoke more CALLING. more
disastrous, than any ever imposed by North
ern hordss, on the d;smembered provinces Of
the Roman Empire. The consequences Of this
suicidal raid Of one section against the interests
and institutions of the other, were clearly
pointed out By statesmen md writers of the
South: sometimes in terms Of calmness and
moderation, oftener in tones Of iere or indig-
nant rcmonstrance. The foul and corrupt
masses to whom this warning was addressed,
imbued with the belief that they possessed the
physical power 10 enforce their schemes, were
TOO brutal to be touched, or too ignorant TO
comprehend. Not thus UNDECIDED was the
voice of New England. She taught that their
interests demanded the %cxtirpltioa OF our labor
system as competing with their own Moved
by a deyilish fanaticism, she laborcd 10 foster
sectional late, 10 Intensity sectional aniInos
tiles. She glided into the periodical literature
Of other lands to malign and traduce Us, that,
prejudgsd in the opening of the world, no
voice OF sympathy might bs raised, no friendly
aid extended to US, in the hour when we should
be overtaken by the flames Of insurrection and
social CONFUSION, lighted by her pbarisecs
and iOfiels. In this connection, let US 10:
forget that New England troops form chiefly
the garrison Of the fortress below us.
The crash came, and whatever may be the
varying fortunes of the war, there is not the
slightest reason to doubt its final result. On
the one side o brave people contend for all
that men or nations most prize on earth; on
the other mere arrogance, ~fanatical hate, and
thirst for plumber. The disparity Of motive is
more than sufficient to counterbalance the in
equality of strength, even if that inequality
were real, rather than apparent. Under the
Providence Of God, the causeless hatred Of
these in6delS, whom she has never injured, but
benefited and enriched, becomes the instru-
ment which compels the South to take her
government into her own hands, and TO work
out alone the splendid destiny that awaits her.
Yct, ere she follows the career sthat Provi.
dence has marked out for her, she turns a shud.
dering gaze on the foul corruption, which has
perverted and overthrown the fairest edisce
the world has een-on the beastly infdelity
which has forsaken Christ and the Evangelists,
to dcGle itself with an anti slavery God, and
an anti slavery Bible. Then sorrowfully she
gathers up her raimsnt, and winds her way
along that path which, under God, shall con-
duct her to happiness and Eouor.
How eventual. gentlemen, have been the last
few months! The sixth Of November, The
South Carolina Convention, the organize.
ton OF the Confederate Government, the
affair Of Sumtef, the proclamation, the seccs.
sion Of Virginia, and u land so lately basking
in peace and prosperity is overshadowetl by
the darkness oil political and social revolution.
1t has come upon US with the suddenncs5 of
The earth's storm, which in an instant over.
whelms districts and cities, family, friends and
foes-of the tornado, which interrupts the calm
OF a SUNNI day, and strews havoc and dvvas.
tation in its track.
But the ark Of promise shall again SPAN the
heavens, Nature shall revive from her tempo
rary prostration, and Hope, pale with recent
emotion, shall once more cheer US with
g~iitnpses Of a glorious future. Then shall We
behold the Soutn-thc traces Of conflicts fresh
upon her garments, with BETTING Difference