Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1866-08-25
Noble Old Virginia.

Gen. D. II. Hill, in his excellent mag.
azine, ('The Land we Love, YIN an ar
Ilce on "W asAinglon," gives a noble
tribute to Virginia, from which we make
a couple of extracts:
Seven cities claimed 10 be the birth
| place of Homer. But ihere is no doubt
about that Of The man whom the world
delights to honor. George Washington,
so eQuable and seG-poised amidst all The
mutations Of fortune, could only have de.
rived his being from 'lhe Molher Of States
aad 81 tesmen ) 80 serene, unelated, ana
,pagnauimous in prosperity, so unmoved,
mistaken and UndiSmayed in her hour Of
trial her sons numbering among them
She foremost in the council, the forum,
and The field, constituting long line Of
Presidents, statesmen, orators, warriors,
scholars and gentlemen. Her daughters
the frs, al every iesal of national rtjoic-
ing, the last at every scene Of suffering.
Each lovely being, as
She walks goddess and looks queen
tiled 10 adorn The halls Of court or the
saloons Of The great and noble, YET alive
to every kind of gentle emotion, ready TO
encourage The despondep,, 10 stimulate
the faint hearted, TO admire The heroic,
and to nurse the wounded, the sick, and
lhe dying. We love no land as we'll as
our own Carolinas /; but we scorn that
narrow seciionallsm which will not admit
thal Virginia has displayed grand hero
| ism and lorllude under misfortune, which
have not been manifested in the same de-
gree by any Of her suffering sisters.
What people ever bore so patiently and
resoluleIy as did he Vlrglnians The burn
ing OF their cities, towns, villages, ham
e,s and private residences, lhe cestuc.
lion Of their fences, crops, and farming
utensils, the robbing OF their horses,
mules, and cattle. the plOnder of their
household goods, the desecralOn of their
churches, and The slaughter of the nobesl
and bes, of their sons The world new.
er before exhibited such a spectacle Of
manly endurance Of multiplied evils, and
wlll never exhibit again unless the same
people are thrown once more into the fur
mace of allliclion. Virginia hospitality !!
celebrated throughout the world. but new
er so generously, and so munticenlly
displayed as during the four years of the
suffering and desolalon Of war. What
soldier was ever turned away hungry
from the rihed mansion Of The once veal.
thy, or the lowly hut Of the always poor
but now ha!f.starved inmate?
Even the shameless struggle, with
the old graceIess, slereotyped story OF
snolhing TO eat in three days." ever met
the cordial welcome and outstretched
hand. General Jackson was wont to
complain that the generosity of the pe0ple
10 slragglers ruined the discipline OF the
army. Just in proportion as their lands
were laid waste and their houses plumber.
ed, did their goodness and liberaily in
crease.
The fount Of Jupiter Ammon sent
forth cooler, more delicious and more re-
Ireshing waters, as the tropical sun wax
ed ferCer and hotter. So when war most
and blighled, then did kindness
and sympathy gush forth from Virginia
hearts most eelly and most copiously.
A mother OF great and glorious men, Of
fair and noble women, we who were not
Of thy favored offspring may have thought
thee TO impartial TO Thy deserving sons,
TOO prone 10 cast mantle over thy e1ing
ones but we can never forge, thy gen.
srosity 10 Or living, thy tears over our
dead"
Thus the writer began, and on and on
he goes. and concludes in the following
strain:
"Bu, we have seen that the country
men of Washington and Of The present
lay are not behind bin in those quail
lies, which The world so much admires in
him. The great Stale which gave him
birth, and gave Them birth. may proudly |
point to hei Jewels and challenge any ma
ion to show pur,r and brighter. She
" i'll not shrink from The comparison with j
England herself. whose eldest daughter
,he is, and whom she most nearly re.