The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-08-08
!" Poor Old Virginia. !"
From the Richmond Examiner

tare poor, beyond question there is rres
misery among our helpless ones; and ob
undyiDg gratitude will ever 20 forth in +,
coenition Of that true charity. which, az i
case ofthe Baltimore ladies', has been 8
muDIficlently bestowed upon us. We or
not ashamed Of our poverty and misery. M
of the aims that have been so generousl
ilent us, because Of them. Those who ar
despoied must needs be poor; those VIII
are trampled upon must needs he miserabl
and we cannot deem it to be any crime {
,ur own that the spoilers hand has bee
upon US, and his heel has ground us int
1.-THE dust.
But there is a sort OF compassion in tn
tone with which the Northern press layishe
pity upon US that is quite nncaIled fol
quite supererogative, quite thrown away
The sheer does not hurt us, since it is mis-
placed. and we can laugh at an excess 0
sentimental sympathy for which there is no
| a shadow Of occasion. We are not poore
now than we were weak when Patrick Hen
rv's clarion awoka the dawn Of the revolu
IL the House Of Bnrgesses. nor are we poo
Lin Fact. No one can look around with hal
a glance at the exuberant and inexhaastibl
resources Of our great State and call Virgin
apoor. No where has nature been SO KIN,
10 where, in river, mountain slope and fol-
ast and plain-in the bend of the sky, ii
the mellow Glth or grassy verdur OF til
soil and in the deep and secret bowels tn
earth, no where has the hand ofnatam beef
so lavish of her good gifts as in Virginia
This kindly sky of ours is itself an endow
ment and a perpetual possession; one hou
OF Virginia sunshine is worth more than ,
weeks soiourn under those palIid rays tina
glimmer over Cape Cod and lend a sickl,
Gellowness to the murky fogs Of Massachu
setts Bay.
Nor have these good and generous gifts
Of nature been thrown. away upon poo
and mean-spirited people. Vifginians, arr
tmphatically race of men--of men who
stand erect and honor the sunshine ant
look kindly nature right in the face. w,
have the pride. the energy, the physique, tn.
endurance Of "a governing race. The pure
oxygenated blood that flows in our veins
makes our hearts strong, our muscles firm
our minds serene and self-poised. Despair
;nd dependency hide themselves abashee
from the presence of our composed healthy
spirit, and obstacles and difficulties yielded
before our assault Look at our men and oul
women, and dare TO think US paor! Were
those men paupers who stood in the trenches
all the long months, starving and in rags
but unAiDching and indomitable? Were
those women paupers who smiled still al
home and still urged US to battle, in theil
scanty suits Of honespnn, while the chill
dren cried at their knees for bread when
there was none, and every mail brought the
news of another loved one slain at his post
of duty? Nay, We are rich indeed in our
men and women; doubly rich in that rem.
rant Of heroes who walked away from the
last field Of battle and calmly bestowed
their hands to labor, in the sweet patience
and christian faith Of our women. cheering
us on with smiles to this task as they
smilingly cheereh us on to that one. We
are rich in the examples our heroes have
set US. and it lisa perpetual riches to US and
IL grand legacy to our children, that we can
point to the noble old mar there at Lex
ineton calmly sitting down to teach the
coming men of Virginia, lessons in the
truth and honor that made their fathers
lives illustriohs.
And NE are douhly rich in our sacred
memories. There at Lexington, besides
the living hero, sleeps another dead indeed
but teaching us by his most unparalleled
example how much Yireinias sons can do
and dare when her honor is a. stake. New
er shall we be poor while these inenorqs
remain. Never can we feel ourselves poor
while we are able to invoke these memo.
II 8. Richer than placer or mine, more fer
tile than the deep valleys ofthe West or
the Indian plains, are our hallowed battle
fields. the places whore our glorious record
WAS won. the places where our beloved sleep.
No, cid Virginia is not poor nor can he
BY all those GRAVES WHICH we cherish. and
the places which beheld their d. eds; by The,
storm-swept bnttle-harried desolation of
Manassas; by the blue hills that Grid the
Valley and look down upon a thousand
fields of victory; by that broad Potomac,
,hrice crossed in triumph; by the banks Of
Ranpahannock, and the immortal record of
Fredericksburg; by the tangled thickets OF
he Wilderness and the Blood stained plain
VI SpottsYlvania; hy Cold Harbor. and en-
'attlcd Petersburg, and the gaps that still
mark in our own streets here how stern was
'ur last despair; by the dead whom We
mourn; by The manned whom we honor and
are for; by the survivors not less noble; BY
'ur brave women and our patient children;
y our honor in the past and hope in the
uture-by all these grand memories and
GLENN reminders, we swear it Old Vir-
mia lis not poor!
>~1>>~e~~-~Ns-~~.~~->~
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