The native Virginian. [volume] (Orange Court House, Va.) 1867-187?, 1868-07-17
THE GLORY OF VIRGINIA.

Preston and Hampton at the Cniyersity OF
Vrginid,-Speech Of John s. Preston be-
fore the Washington and JEFFERSON Socie-
ties-Gen. Hampton called for. His clio
queat response. 49,
The correspondent ofthc Richmond
Dispatch, writing from the University,
July 30th, makes a full report of the
proceedings of that day. from which we
quote the material portion. .r...#l,.
| Mr.. c. j. Faulkner, Jr., in behalf of
the Societies, rendered the audience a
cordial welcome, and gracefully intro
| duced the orator of the day. Gen. John
S. Preston, of South Carolina. lie was
received with the most vociferous an
plause, v',lch compelled him to remain
standing for several minutes, and per-
mitted the audience to gaze upon one of
| the understanding men ever saw
Ills splendid figure, erect as an arrow,
noble ,countenancc lighted with the fires
of fgenilis, martial bearisE, and heavy
gray moustache, reminded one Of an old
Marshal ofFrance in the proud days of
Napoleon's power and glory. .., -
lie begun by beautiful allusion to
the lessons taught by classic Greece,
where Homer learned to sing of gods
and heroes, the sculptured marble was
made instinct with life, Anaceron wrote
in sweetly- blowing numbers, Demos
themes thundered the voice of freedom,
and Leonidas died in the cause of lber-
ty. Rome taught us the science of gov
ernment and law. The lessons of lsra-
ell come from the waves of the Red sea. |
the Mount of God. Siloa's brook, and |
Calvary's cross. But he PROPOSED to |
draw lessons nearer home, from the his \
tOric past of Virgiiia-her heroes and |
her principles. He vividlv sketched the
old glory of Virginia in the freedom of 1
her people and the excellency other in
stitutions. He gave striking iliustra-
tions from history to show that tyran-
ny had never been able to crush the
spirit of liberty, and that when it seem-
cd crushed in Europe it found refuge
on this side Of the ocean, and gave to the
world Washington and his Virginia.-
3ut where and what is that Virginia
to-day? Four days hence will be cele-
bratcd the day on which was signed the
instrument intended to give to us the
fruitagc of the vintage of liberty, and on
that day orators will speak in the name
Of Freedom. Rome still called her ty-
rants Cesar" and preserved careful
ly the insignia of libcrty-her senators
still sat clothed in purple robes, and on
festal days her orators Haunted the
names of her patriots long after every
spark of liberty was extinguished. So
on the approaching natal day of Ameri-
san independence, the names of Virgin
as patriots will be Haunted over the
and; for dark indeed would be the day
Without the lustre OF those names which
gave 1t its chief glory. viii 1t be asked
III thai day where is Virginia? The
world has honored her; France decreed
,onors to his memory, and the great
Napoleon bowed his lattrelled brow I'm
'evercnce to Virginia's Washington.-I !
lie proposed to talk of this Virginia to- /,
lay. In boyhood, he remembered to .
AVE seen some proud Indian return to ,
his region to funt npand fondly linger
LrolInd the graves OF his fathers. Is IL
reason for us to-day to Inquire after 7
hose grcaC names which Virginia gave ,
o the world, and to inger in foadaffcc-
ion around their graves f41
The orbits of nations are fixed by the 4
sod of nations; but repellant forces
ONE to drive them from their proper
curse, and thus revolutions and con-l i
Ilcts come. They were not true proph- +
Is who twenty years ago told us that a
iars would cease. We know OF It's cru
r
And when now, after the blast of that L
empest, we turn our scared eyes upon !,
he scene, we ask, in terror-stricken be- u
Where is Virginia Is =
nat shrunken, mutilated, charred corse !,
he great gift of God to the New World. t'
nc blessed among the nations, the -
lother of Washington, the creator of ~
.merican liberty, the eXamplar and u
le model of the world! Oh the grand 3
Id mother. Behold her this day seven u
ears ago as. clothed in the panoply of "
alias, she rose from the lethargv of s.
ears. her eyes kindled with the memo a.
Y of the giant sons of her youth, she ID
rasps her spear and waves her golden
air, and standing on her capitol, shouts :,
er ancient war-song, and calls around ~
er warrior children; and they come !,
ON her plains, from beyond her noun 81 81
ins, and from the shores OF her re- =
'unding seas, and pressing their knees v. "
her soil, devote themselves to Vir- =. -
nia--an hundred thousand Decii--and ~
lsh forth to defend her borders. to save p
ON the sacrilegious touch the very "
I'm of her royal robes, and to die for II
irgnia. Alas alas ! there sue sits y, :.
ow-her limbs torn away-her bosom y; y;
very womb stamped to III