The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1866-03-22
letter From virginia.

.
The following letter from an old Vir-
ginian, gentleman Of high character,
and member of one of the most inhu-
cntial families of that State, to friend
in Eastern Pennsylvania, cannot fail to
prove interesting to our readers gencr-
orally:
CAROLINE CO. Virginia, Feb 0, &c.
To -
Ny DEAR SIR II assure you | was
very much gratifcd by the receipt of
your letter | had never doubted for a
moment, but that you and very large
class Of your fellow citizens, condemned
the war from the beginning, and have
since the war was concluded, done what
you could to bring about reconciliation
and harmony,
But ! fear you aud your friends are
not strong enough to save us. The rad
ical party have the majority, andare de-
tcrmined TO use il and the power it gives
them, in the preparation of such acts
aud measures towards us, as will end in
our utter ruin. In fact we are ruined
now our labor is utterly disorganized
and we cannot till our lands, or conduct
any enterprise where labor is required
with any hope Of success The negro,
az n freedman, will serve no useful pur-
pose he will not work 1t is for this
reason that wo Of the South, who know
them so well, are anxious 10 introduce
white labor, and unless We can succeed
in doing so, there is no hope for It's
Our climatci is good Our soil though
impoverished is very readily capable of
improvement. and We of Eastern Virgin
IA, are most fayorably rs regards
proximity TO market. We have fine
rivers---many Of them navigablc--aud
those that are not nayigablc, with their
tributary streams, afford everywhere ex.
ccllcut watcr.power Not more than
four miles from where | live, aud within
a mile Of the Richmond, Fredericksburg
aud Potomac Railroad, there is water
power which commands the whole vol.
umo Of river one hundred feet wide,
and which affords fall Of forty feet
This property could be bought for few
thousand dollars.
merely mention this to show what
an opening there Is here, close to the
Atlantic coast, to those who seek favor
nble locations aud how much better
are the chances of success here, close 10
market. than 70 60 more than one thous-
and miles vesi away from Il
a ! said before, II We can get rid Of
the negro aud introduce the white man
Ia bis plaor, We eau al least make pros
porous country Of lrgIDia. aud most
Of my fellpw citizens, DO Bsa regret the
loss Of our negroes We had long be-
come very tired Of them aud it we could
have gradually gotten riJ oG theme
placing them with other labor--we
woald have gladly given tbcm up. But
The summary manucr 10 which We have
been disposscssed Of them has thrown
everything here into chaos
The war has sunk oH ofour capital
invested in Banks, Faetories and lnsu-
rance omplnics. aud reduced to nearly
nothing what was invested in Railroad
stocks and bonds and ia State Stocks.
We had, also. before is close. eaten up
everything We had that wc could cat,
and had expended pretty much every
,hing We had You can imagine our
uttor exhaustion
but, notwithstanding there IL no
whining Every QUO goes towork cheer.
fully aud willingly Our lldlss, who
have always had others to wait upon
them, aud who never knew a want. now
wait upon themselves and their families
Our sons who are suddenly reduced 10
the condition Of laborers. auS who have
no other career open to them, are now
seen everywhere chccrfully at work, and
they work ycry we'll
And | wish, also, 20 say 10 YOU, that
there is 10 disloyalty here. They are
very, very sorry they did not succeed in
this revolution. But having had the
question Of their independence placed
upon the arbitrament OF arms, and hay
ing been defeated in the contest, they
have accepted the result, aud are now
anxious to do what they can, faithfully
and honestly, in the great work of re-
construction. This is the truth. Yir-
guia now desires nothing more than to
restore the Union
assure you, again, that | have been
exec ,dingly gratded 10 hear from you,
and hope that it will not be long be-
fore | will again have that pleasure. I
have not heard from Mr. - since A..
prll, 1861 How are heand his family?
hope he has enjoyed some Of that great
good fortune of which all the large man
ufacturcrs haze been the recipients du-
ring the war.
Most respectfllly YOURS.