Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1866-06-19

down the dark Valley of the Shadow of death
as he was wont to look upon peril in life and
duty in his high Office.
And now, gentlemen, with him, 'ife's ftful
place of wearied humanity" His labors end
ed, at peace with all men, full of gentle sympa-
thies and warm affections purified by great
suffering and physical afflictions-with a sure
faith, openly proclaimed, in the princely atone
ment for sin he closed his eyes upon Earth
and its scenes to open them upon that which
the eye of man hath not seen and which it
hath not entered into his heart to conceive
and to find his place among ''the just men made
pGJect." And to us who survive him, comes
back from the sunset of his mortal life the pre-
shall shine with steady lustre for our comfort
and guidance as sce journey on to the same
bright land into which, we trust, he has entered!
| When consider, Gentlemen, not only the
inherent responsibilities of the sacred office I
assume, but in whose pathway | tread, with
unequal steps, | can only invoke, reverently,
for my guidance and direction that wisdom
which cometh from above and resolve toscon-
secrate all my powers to the discharge of its
| duties
And now, Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, it
is my duty to speak to you of yoau' functions
and obligations as ministers of the law: to re-
mind you of the responsibilities of your office,
and to aid you in the execution of your duties.
| You have been selected from all parts of this
great county for your intelligence your virtues
and your deep interest in the common welfare,
to act as the Grand Inquest of the county and
to perform duties vitally affecting the wel-being
| of society You are here as days-men of the
| law-to be a terror to evil doers and praise to
| less than the highest from unnecessary prose
cutions and to bring without fear, favor or af-
tection, all persons who have violated the law
| before the country and face to face with it's
penalties THIS IS yo,u duty: and knowing
you as | do, [ can vouch for it that you will,
impartially and fearlessly, discharge that duty
| Gentlemen, we are now passing into a new
era of civil life and legal relations; and it we'll
becomes us all to comprehend it's responsible
the discharge of it's duties. The war which has
so recently desolated our land, has not only
swept into the grave thousands of our bravest
and best men-heroes whose fame shall never
die, altho' the cause in which they persisted is
"a lost cause, has not only destroyed our
property and impoverished our people, but has
converted millions Of the colored race, once our
slaves, into freemen our equals in many res
poets before the law. Following up the fact of
emancipation however caused) to it's logical
consequences, the General Assembly, at it's last
|
ute book all provisions of law heretofore exist.
ing which required peculiar proceedings in
criminal cases and prescribed peculiar punish
ments for colored persons, declaring that ''all
laws in respect to crimes and punishments and
in respect to criminal proceedings, applicable
to white persons shall apply in like manner,
to colored persons and to Indians, unless where
it is otherwise specially provided: and specially
repeating all acts imposing on negroes the pen
atty OF stripes where the same penalty is not
imposed on white persons-confning the impo-
sition of such penalty, practically, to cases of
petty larceny, for which, in the event of convic.
ton, the prisoner may be punished with stripes
at the discretion Of the Court
x
Gentlemen, I cannot too earnestly invoke
your aid in throwing the protecting power of
the law around the freedmen in your midst it
is not only your sacred duty, but your interest
and that Of all for whom you act to be stern in
shielding the persons, the property and the
They are called elsewhere "the wards Of the
nation;'' they are, in my judgment, peculiarly
the wards of the people of the South: to be
cared for, watched over, encouraged, elevated
and protected in all their rights, with untiring
humanity, impartial integrity and fearless dis
charge Of duty, by all and especially on the
part of those charged with the execution Of the
laws. Gentlemen, many of them appeal pit
eously to our kindly and humane feelings: al
though no longer our slaves, they are still our
dependents; they are ignorant, improvident,
thriftless and, to great degree, incapable as
yet of caring for themselves. Theirs Is a con-
dition not sought for by themselves; but into
which they have been drifted by the irresistible
current of events. fothers have been wronged,
or done wrong, they are not to blame: during
all this long agonizlng struggle, they have chung
to their masters with singular fidelity; whilst
fathers, husbands and brothers have been in
the ranks Of battle far away from their homes,
children, wives and sisters have been safe IN
the midst of faithful slaves The history of the
world contains no parallel to the constant fidel-
ity, as whole, of this servile class, for whose
freedom they were led to believe their masters
opponents were fighting: and for whose op-
preston and continued enslavement they were
also taught to believe, those masters were con-
tending. Over this broad land no outcry of in
surrection-scarcely stir of insubordinatlon,
was heard until the conflict was substantially
over: and, ere they were aware, the way was
opened and without obstruction or hindrance,
they glided into freedom. 1t is not to be Won
dered at, that their weak heads were turned by
this sudden change-that cut loose from the
ties that once bound them to their old homes,
they drifted away into strange places; that
they gathered in crowds into those Ito them)
earthly paradises, the towns and cities Of the
South and that deprived of the watchful care
of intelligent guardians and protectors, that
many of them have perished miserably, in the
highways of freedom The Omniscent Ruler
of the world can alone foresee their doom in the
future; but of one thing Gentlemen, let us
rest assured, that ace, the whites of the South,
have interests and duties connected with these
freedmen of which we cannot divest ourselves.
They are thrown upon our hands as freedmen
against our Wills just as their forefathers We're
thrown, as slaues, upon the care Of early Colo
nists of the South, against their protestatons
and remonstrances. Interests, however, grew
and duties sprung up from the originally en-
forced relations of the whites and blacks as
masters and slaves and just such will be the
case in the new relations we are about to enter
upon. Our best interests are involved in this
race Of freedmen, as the tillers of our soil and
as our servants and dependents and as in the
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