Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1863-01-13

diadem by the hand of Victory Ian
among the brightest of the lustrous grou
will shine the name of one whose fam
! Virginians will ever cherish with crate
Ifill admiration--J- E. B. Stuart, tie Sal
Iadin of the army, whose flashing seine
| tar cleaning in the faces of the enemy
blinds them with terror, and lights the
way to victory and honor.
But, gentlemen, although victory has
thus smiled on our. carse, and fame has
enrolled new names on the scrolls of i'm
mortality, the conflict is not over-the
dangers are not yet passed. It will
require wise and cool heads, strong and
steady arms and firm and united wills,
to guide us safely through the breakers
foaming around US. Let, then, no discord
disturb our counsels-let no distrust of
those, who are the pilots in the storm,
nnnerve their energies or distract their
thoughts from the great duties before
them. Virginia has thus far, In this war,
been not less distinguished for her suf-
serings and sacrifices than for hey I'M
murmuring patience and unquestioning
trust in those to whom she has commit
ted the charge Of her destinies. So let
lit be in the future, and until this great
danger be over past! And by her no
bic example, let her still the clamors of
discomfort, if any should arise, and se--
cure perfect harmony among our glori-
Gus sisterhood of States. ~ gsfsa
The ruthless fanaticism of the Eman-
cipation proclamations of President Lin
.coln--the enormous military prepara-
tions of the enemy-his unabafed ma.
Lightly of spiritand obstinacy Of. purpose
intensified by repeated defeats and by
national despair in view of the ruin
which stares him in the face, and his
bitter assurance that Virginia, holding
the Capital Of the Confederacy within
her bosom, is the great stumbling block
in the way of crushing ont therebellion,
unite in creating the apprehension that
the most fearful crisis Of the war is get
before us-a crisis in which all the en-
ergies and strength of thetwo great CON
tending powers will be strained to the
utmost that Virginia must, as here
tofore, bear the shock of the terrible
conflict. $780,
But, gentlemen, we are sustained and
cheered by "hope which is, as the an
chor of the soul, both sure and stead
fast !" Our cause growing brighter to
our eyes and dearer to our hearts the
more it is imperilled-t the genius and
skill of our leaders rising higher and
higher the greater the dangers that
threaten the citadel of our liberties the
courage and determination of our sol :
diers becoming sterner and more resol-
we'd the heavier the pressure on their
columns s-the prayers and tears ofmoth-
ers and wives, of sisters and children,
and of aged men in their threatened
homes ascending to heaven more and
more pleadingly and feryently as the
rage of the enemy increases; and, what
is far better, the smile Of our favoring
God gliding more and more brightly the
darkest hour of our national trial, com
bine to cheer us with the hope, nay, to |
fire rs with the unutterable faith, that
our cause shall be gained that the vic
tory shall be ours and that, when the
storm through which she is to pass has
Virginia, our dearly loved
Virginia, shall stand, like the majestic
oak Of the forest, after the hurricane has
swept over it, stripped, it may be, of its
leaves and with some of its noble bran
ches scattered around, it but still with its
trunk and strong limbs rising proudly |
in the sunlight, and its roots striking
deep into the rich soil beneath, from
which shall be drawn new life to repair
the damage of the storm
Gentlemen, not lightly or irreverently,
but sole1nnly and fervently, do / invoke
Gods blessing on your labors, and pray
that, by yourdeliberations, as far as they
may conduce to those blessed ends,
'Speace and happiness, truth and justice,
religion and pie1y, may be established |
us for all generations"
tn tf,o Arm