Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1861-04-19

v41GO44N 41A3 n 1txDA i /.
tional asesndancy, worse than colonial vas.
sallage; to permit ourselves to be strrilpt, OF
pretexts as insulting as they are injurious
of our fair proportion of the public domain
( to allow that common authority established
for the projection Of Cur rights and our hon.
or, to accumulate in the bosom Of Our own
| society, elements of danger and destruc.
ton, which at a future day must close oul
long line of glory in the deepest tragedy
Contemptu fansae, conten,pts v,ytutis, is a
great moral law. When. any people lose
that self-respect which is the spring Of pub
lie virtue and private honor, the public
spirit and public conscience, which consti-
tutes the most valuable possession of ma
ton, must become extinct And taking up
the words of the, distinguished gentleman
from Kanawha, I Say that when this takes
place, all will have been lost that is worth
defence 1t is wise and rational to pause
on the Threshold Of revolution, because
while Han knows w}h & i saha Were it NAV
begin, God only knows when and where it
will eu2.s But there is another lesson
which we ehohld also take to heart, lesson
exampli6ed in all history, and expressed in
that great retributive law of Providence, by
which, sooner or later, ruin overtakes every
people who surrender their rights to their
Fears. and prefer their ease to their duty
Can gentlemen anticipate that living under
a: unien. which is already the instrument of
inaicNng upon us sacfs sdegradation--a u.
Mon which threatens our future destruction
can they expect that any strain of eulo-
gy on this Union, however eloquent, will
awaken responsive echoes from the hearts
OF free people? Tell me not, sir, what
our ancestors have said in their day; they
delivered to US sentiments and maxims that
were just and appropriate in their own time.
In my opinion, true veneration is shown
for our fathers, not by applying theie. pre-
cepts under circumstances entirely different
from those which they contemplated in Civ
ing them utterance, but by. acting in our
day and generation, as we believe that they
would have acted; had they been staul Sing in
our places. No doubt they desired this u
nion to endure forever It was their wish
that its links might remain as fast, and firm
and bright,as the links of that sacred chain
which holds the Earring elements Of nature
sn; peace, No doubt. it was their fervent
aspiratioo:tsat Liberty. and Union might
ever be one and iuseparable. But there
is an Inspiration in their olives sublime"
which teaches It's another and yet higher
sentiments sentiment Which breathes in
those fragments Of the eloquence cf Otis
and Henry, which. have been horne to us
upon the wings Of traditiona--a sentiment
Nhichls smoJ;na.id. that aqrious scene
comm amorated BY tie genius Of painting
now 50 fifty grazing this Hall, in which is
SUES Of liberty are to- be decided -.nhich is
revealed in tie majesty CT that form, in ths
serenity of that brow, in che lnstre Of thai
eye, as amid the wintry torrents of the Del
aware, the Father of his Cosintry peurs in
to dismayed and responding patriotism
in its hour Of darkest trial, his own unfail-
ing heart of Representations which, from
every memorial tomb of The mighty ..dehd,
through all our borders, bursts into speech,
;'Whenever this Union and your liberties
cannot exist together, throw the Union to
the winds, and clasp the Liberty Of your
country toyour heart"
But, sir, suppose the policy Of the Fed
eral Government is not pacific. but-coercion
is attempted, where will Virginia 60 then ?
[ am glad TO know that the voice which says
Virginia will then 60 nowhere, is very faint
and low If a coercive policy should be a.
doptea, as, is nov, at least, probable, the
question which will be presented to us, is
one that must be decided by the heart, and
not by the head. It is one that does not
admit Of debate, frne,, sir. every materi-
81 interest we possess, would be destroyed
BY the subjugation OF the Gulf States all
tie principles of Constitutional, liberty we
have cherished, would be trarnpled In the
dust but there are stronger considerations
yet, which rWeald Never permit us,to stand
by, and witness such consummation-ir-
rcpressible sympathies and instincts Of ma
ture. we could never sit around the coun-
ell board ofthe hatien, With States which
presented themselves in garments dripping
with fraternal blood No, sir, if this ad-
ministration should be SO deaf to the com
handing voice of Justice; $50 deaf to the
.nournful appeal Of the wounded, bpts yet
living sympathies Of our ancient brother
hood; SO insensible tc the public opinion Of
the civilized world, to.the common senti-
nlents of humanity, and to the principles Of
liberty, as to ,inaugurate this policy Of coer-
oien, Upon whatever; other point there. may
be uncertainty, there is no doubt, then,
that this Commonwealth - sr..
esLske's Disappearing star,
Like glory from afar,
sih., Would head the flock Of war;, \
History inforth5 Us that Louis XIV, in
the latter part Of his life, When, stripped Of
the territory acquired d by long career Of
conquest, broken in spirit humbled in his
fortunes, ready to purchase peace from his
adversaries by almost any concession, broke
up the conference of Gertrudenburg rather
than. acquiesce in the suggestion, to turn
his arms against his grandchild on the Span
ish throne; and the native magnanimity Of
his hereditary enemies, subdued the inso-
lence of triumph, and applauded his noble
pride This. CLEAN of generous spirit shed
around his closing hours. a brighter lustre
than was impaired to them by all his earlier
conquests.., ..~
Sir, will Virginia be, found lending the
sinews of war and the prestige of her name,
to enable this government to execute a pol
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