The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-02-05

The patriotism which some able.bodied
citizens manifest in these times is unsur-
passed In the history of the human race
Patriotism begins at home, and their devo-
ton to their homes is beyond all precedent
Ia peaceful times they may not have been
exceedingly fond of the quiet enjoyments o.
the Preside. They may have considered
them somewhat insipid, and varied the mo-
notony of domestic joys by occasional raids
into foreign regions. But now, when the
security of the fireside demands protector
",here's no place like home The perisha
bic slories of the battle field fade into insig
nificancc compared with the calm hreilght
of the hearth The roar OF a cannon has no
such attraction for them as the music OF the
cricket In the corner, and even the midnight
wailincs of discopsolate child are sweet
music TO the unearthly scream of Hotch
kiss or Parrott. They would not give the
contents Of one oyster shell for all the shells
that the army have opened since the begin
ming of the war. They would rather go to
bed rosy and reeliug from hard hit OF Bac.
chus than lose drop OF their sacred claret
under the malign influence Of Mars. Their
patriotism is very much akin to that of an
old English preacher for his native island
In his last moments, his faithful servant,
John. endeavored to console him by saying
"Be comfsrted, my good master, you are
going to better place" "Ah, John, said
the departing worthy, "there's no place like
Old England"
In,
some of our most muscular patriots, like
their dear native sod. They have no idea o.
,eav;ng il under any consideration. If they
once listen to the syren voice of Glory, who
knows where they will bring up? Camp Lee
ia only the beginning of a journey which may
end at Gettysburg That wild fellow, Rob
ert T., may drag them sway from their ma
tive country and cause them TO end their
DAYS In the most detestable of foreign lands.
Patriotism dictates that they should incur
no such hazard. They intend to STICK 10
Virginia like a brother, or, what ia better and
closer, like leech; to live by her and die in
her
In general these devoted patriots are huge
feeders and drinkers. Men in the prime and
vgor of life, and heavily working on I'M
portant contracts for the Government, thty
require vast amount of animal, Eegetaoie,
and alcoholic fuel to keep them il operation.
They are necessary, however, to the produc-
ton of supplies for the army. III, from pro-
ducers, they were converted into consum-
CTS, they would use up Gen. Lees supplies
in two days and reduce the Commissary
General to q state of total despair good
many of them are gigantic drinking men,
equal to those burly emperors of the Middle
Ages, who would swill strong liquors till
nearly apoplectic, and, when recommended
to swall 1w . medicinal draught forthe SAFETY
OF their lives, replied that if they had room
for medicine they would have swallowed
more liquor.
It's fortunate thing, therefore, that pro
ducers, who consume as much as they pro-
duce, are mot put into the army, where they
would produce nothing, not even themselves
in the day OF battle. Every man in has
place, and their place is the town or neigh
borhood where they were born; the ROOF
tree that sheltered their infant heads; the
Odoriferous mint bed suggestive of happier
DAYS and OF cons olatory future. II man
loves not these home scenes, how can he be
expected to love that part OF his country
which he has never seenf Those who pre-
fer dying for their country to living in it ass
entitled to the enjoyment Of their peculiar
tastes but that true patriotism which clings
TO the hearthstone shows its love for its
country by living in it as long as possible.
1t is unable to appreciate the exquisite sen
sations Of bayonet through the abdomen,
or leg sawed of by a Confederate surgeon.
If sucn a patriot saves his country In any
field, it must be the cornfleld; and If, when
he becomes q grandfather, posterity asks
whether he was in the wal. he can reply with
pride asd satisfaction that he lived through
it all, and made more out of it than Davis
Lee, stonewall Jackson. Longstreet, Beau
regard, and all the rank and file put together.
Happy and glorious the evening OF life so
rigidly devoted to the domestic virtues!-
Bear him gently, oh Posterity, to his resting
place in tie soil he loved so well, aud bury
him beneath his own dunghill-the fitting
monument of his tenacious and productive
qualities.
Financial and Commercial.