The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1867-09-04

The Situation as Viewed by true Virginia
Gentleman.
The following extract from private letter
from gentleman of the South-side, and one
of the public's most conscientious servants,
contains SO much good logic that we take the
liberty of giving it to our readers and advise
careful perusal Of the same.
He says: Having business appointment
in Richmond, I was obliged to deny myself the
pleasure of accepting your kind invitation to
spend day in Staunton. The gentlemen Of
your town, whose acquaintance have had the
pleasure and good fortune to make, have i'm
pressed me most favorably, and it would have
been to me real pleasure to have met
and held converse with them upon subjects
deeply effecting the future welfare Of our "be-
loved old commonwealth"
In the course Of a life, now somewhat pro-
tracted, and during which have had to rely
much upon my own resources and TO form
conclusions upon the most important sub
jects without conversation with others,
| have never been more perplexed to deter
mine the path Of wisdom and Of duty, than
I have for the last six months. / am sure
that l have no selfish or ambitious aspirations
to mislead me-that my great and absorbing
desire is to do,at any justifable sacrifice, what
ever is best calculated to restore the country
to peace. security and prosperity. Our coun-
try is surrounded with great perils. The ex-
pertinent now being tried, is one of fearful
hazard. The object aimed at, by all true
patriots, cannot be attained at once-not by
any one measurement by direct assault Ito
use military fgurc.) It can only be reached
by gradual approaches. A military comman-
der is justified in this mode Of reducing
places too strong for direct assault. May not
the statesman be allowed the same latitude
of means to accomplish desirable and be-
ni6cent end Is not such means lawful
In healthy condition of the public mind, |
confess that more direct issue would be
greatly more to my liking. But the public
mind is still greatly distracted. No large
body of memo number which approaches
to majority of the people, can be found
agreeing upon any policy which promises to
lead directly to the great end, which all good
men should desire, viz the peace, security
and highest welfare attainable of every man,
woman and child, black and white, in the
country. Hseems to me that we can only
choose from time to time, the lesser evil as SUBJ
jects present themselves for solution. until
the public mind is freed from prejudice and
passion and until wiser, more comprehen-
Of ra,ah, hos,
embodied itself In the meantime, this ex-
pertinent which we regard as one threatening
us with great danger from its suddenness
from the manner Of its enactments and the
manner of its execution and its surroundings,
should be fairly tried and if possible made
a success If it fail, let it be apparent to the
whole civilized world that the failure sprung
from its inherent defects its intrinsic
error, and not from any fault in its execution.
We cannot afford to hazard repetition Of
such experiments.
We Of the South-side feel great apprehen-
sion that our new sufragans, under the infu-
ences that are being brought to bear upon
them, will not exercise their new privilege
with wisdom or discretion but that they will
array themselves against the whites, from
belief that their interests are at variance
with the interests Of the whites. We are
doing what we can to enlighten and concili-
ate them, but with faint hope of any immedi-
ate success. We look with hope to the Val
ley and the West to save the State. Send
your wisest and most patient and devoted
men to the Convention. We must work and
wait. Virginia must not perish. Alas ! the
heart sickens at the magnitude of the work
and the duration of our trials. But Providence
is kind and merciful and rich in resources,
and trust will crown our labors with speedy
success.
Blackwalnut,
Halifax county, Va.
A WHOLE FAMILY IN HEAyEN.-The
following eloquent passage is from the pen
of Albert Barnes:
A whole family in heaven Who can pic
ture or describe the everlasting joy? No one
absent. Nor father, nor mother, nor son,
nor daughter are away. In the world below,
they were united in faith, andlove, and peace,
and Joy. In the morning of the resurrection
they ascend together. Before the throne
they bow together in united alteration, On
the banks Of the River of Life they walk
hand in hand, and as family have commence
cd career of glory which shall! be everlast-
ing. There is hereafter to be no separation
in that family. No one is to lie down on
bed Of pain. No one to wander into the arms
of death. Never in Heaven is that family
to move along in the slow procession, clad in
the habiliments Of woe, to consign one of
its numbers to the tomb God grant that in
His infinite mercy every family may he thus
united.
How TO GET Up REFRESHED Every
person who tolls daily upon farm in warm
weather, should be careful to practice sys-
tenn of ablution at the close Of each DAYS la
Dor. Sometimes he may be SO exhausted as
to render this anything but an inviting per-
Torrance, yet by its omission he loses much
of the refreshment which the hours Of repose
are designed to impart. Cleanliness of per-
son is essential to sound and refreshing slum-
Der, hence the labor of keeping ones person
clean is amply repaid by the elasticity which
follows from nightly ablutions before retiring