Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1861-02-19

you, in the spirit of black ingratitude, like th
adder, turn upon her and sting her? Or will
you, like Samson, to show your strength, tea
down the pillars which support the temple, ant
bury all in one undistinguished ruin ? Then
will you force the old mother to exclaim =
ssHear, o heavens and give ear, earth hav,
nourished and brought up children, and the,
have rebelled against me -
Mr.. Speaker let us think of the honest mil
lions, the support and the pillars of the Govern
ment, who, unobserved, watch with such deer
solicitude the condition of their country.-
ssNone see their pure devotion, none their tears
their faith and love which burn within them
for their country. Think, oh think, I entreat
you, think of them But ifyou will have no re.
gard for the honest people who have made YOU
what you are, and who are not responsible fol
the burdens with which they are now afflicted.
then think of our great Government, now the
pride of America, the admiration of the world
Divide US, dissever our States and erect petty
confederacies, warning with each other, in their
stead, and none will be found so poor as to dc
us reverence. Sir, confess it grieves my heart
when / see gentlemen on that side of the cham
ber sit, with so much indifference, as State after
State is shooting from it's sphere; when they
must well know that unless something is done
and that promptly, too. there is danger that ev-
cry slave State, whether right. or wrong, will be
ge9e-gone, and forever. Nor can L witness
with less feeling the glad smile which is pro-
duced on others as the Ightning's flash brings
the same sad intelligence. 1t is to me like the
smile that plays upon the face as ssthe blood
comes gurgling forth from out the throat of the
wild Suicide.o
Sir, my own State, Virginia, has elected her
delegates to deliberate upon her welfare and her
destiny; and while her action may be against my
judgment, yet, when it is taken, then her lot be-
comes my lot; her fate my fate her destiny my
destiny. Her will, not mine, be done. But my
prayer is, that we may yet heal the breach; that
some Ararat will swell above the flood, or some
dove will bear the olive branch of peace;
"And all the clouds that lowered upon our house,
Be in the deep bosom of the ocean buried"
and that the bow of promise, of peace, of pros
perity, of happiness, of unity and love may once
more span our political heavens.
But, when all efforts at compromise fail, and
all be lost; and when the wickedness of men has
destroyed the best Government on earth, and
plunged a nation into blood; when the American
eagle shall drop the olive branch of peace, and
ssgrasp only the arrows of war; when brother
shall rise against brother, and father against son,
and anarchy and ssconfusiOn worse cOnfounded''
shall reign supreme when, from an innocent and
outraged people, the sound will ring in the ears
of the guilty, ssye knew your duty, but ye did it
not;'' and when, from a thousand guilty
tongues, it will be echoed back, in the language
of the murderer Macbeth, ssThou cans't not say
did ;'' let us trust in Him who holds the des-
TIMES of men and the destinies of nations in His
hand; in Him who creates the storm and directs
the Whlrlwind for it is sweet to know,
There's divinity that shapes our ends
Roughhew them how we will"
Heaven and earth will witness, if my country
must fall, am innocent.