The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1868-02-05
N O.. 10.


: shall be heard no more, when peace shall gathe
the entire family of man under the shadow of he
I wing; when as individuals and as nation, rccti
tude in thought and deed, shall be an aim and at
tainment, and not only an abstract reality, but a.
universal presence. Let us then remember. eyel
amidst the dark desolations Of the hour. that
{. The gloomiest day hath CLEANS of light,
The darkest wave, hath bright foam near it !;
And wrinkles through the cloudiest night,
One solitary star to cheer It, - =s,. e.
Amid our national adversely my friends, q love o
liberty and of country is indigenous principl
with our people, as the evergreen is to our nativ
hills and mountains. tits here where God e frs
beamed upon us; it is here where the stars Of Heay
en- first shone upon us; where the ightenings frs
declared His omnipotence, and the storm. wind
shook QNr>souls with awe. Here are all our affec
tions Here is our country. The bones of oul
beloved ancestry sleep here and those Of the deal
ones who fell in our .Lost Cause" It is here
where the first human eye bent lovingly over oul
cradle; where our mother first bore us joyfullJ
on her bosom whers our fathers engraved words
of wisdom our young hearts. Here are all oul
| affections then. Here is our country,
And though it were desert-yet .lft
Dear, to our hearts this spot shall prove
I Oar home; We never canst forget,
Our country never cease to love.
And wheresoever our steps may roam.
| As FESTIVE wanderers DER the earth;
| With love- our bosoms still shall burn.
! For this dear land that gave us birth;
For wherever else, our steps may roam,
| This is our country-this our home
| But when we unroll, my friends, the scroll
of time, and open the pages of Virgnias history,
the heart almost sinks with sadness, at the reec-
| tion:-What Virginia was, and what she now is.
Upon every page of the annals which record the
| and pofA r,op oh
eminent above all her sister States. Her fame is
eternal. The eternal sunshine of her greatness
outdazzle the splendor Of the gorgeous mausoleNm.
As the mother of States and Statesmen, she stands
solitary in the grandeur of her achievements, in
war, in peace, in the science of government, and
in fundamental law. 1t would be vain to attempt
to take from her, one atom Of her greatness. II
has passed into history, and is interviewer with
the rise, progress and DECLINE Of constitutional
liberty. '-- 8As
But look upon that picture, and new upon this.
With the ascendency of Radicalism, by military
rule her constitution is to be ignored, passion
substituted for reason, guaranteed rights and inn
munities las old and cotemporaneous with our
forms of government,) are to be swept away be-
fore the progressive tide of isms. Outrage has
succeeded outrage, in rapid succession, until now,
Virginia is territorial dependency, her territory
dismembered, military satrapy, accord,
ing to Radical logic and legislation and in the
same Hall, where in 1629,-'30, James Monroe,
President of the Convention, James Madison, the
author of the Federal Constitution, ohm Marshall,
its great expounder, Lyttleton Tazewell, John
Randolph, Briseae d. Baldwin, Robt. Stanard,
John Tyler, Philip Doddridge, John S. Barbour,
Philip Barbour, and others, no less distinguished,
who have rolled down theip brilliant pathway 70
the tomb, and lent their aid and experience in the
cause of good government, is now occupied by ig-
norant blacks, and blackhearted whites, to undo
of bpco roaf mo md max for
Virginia an organiclaw!! Whilst the heart sick
ems in contemplating the contrast, and the brain
reels and staggers at the awful spectacle, we are
yet cheered with the pleasing reflection, that
"there is life in the old land yet"
The recent Conservative Convention, of over
1000 Virginia gentlemen, which met i'll Richmond,
representing the intellect, and virtue Of the State,
with the dignity, decorum and practical states
manship of their deliberations, remind US, that
our soil is still the abode Of greatness; and the
time is not far distant, when their counsels and
sentiments must prevail and the country restored
to the influence of the spirit WHICH animated
noble ancestry. For there is salient, elastic,
living principle in our people yet, and W
Our land, the first garden of Liberty's tree,
1t has been, and it shall be, the land of the free
And, what, though misfortune for time, my
friends, has cast clouds of sorrow over our path
way; what though the merry laugh of joy and
prosperity may and then find its echo in the
mournful cry of sadness, and although this tide
of misfortune like the mighty Oceans waves, has
risen and swept resistlessy over us, we not
conquered yet our spirits are still free. This
beautiful world still moves on, which requires no
tongue to give iptelligibilty to its meaning. For
there is language i'll the stars. There is voice
in the night wind and in the trumpet blowing
cataract, and in the mighty silence of limitless
space. e-lsst-
Let US then take courage and dash the blight
ing spray aside, and like o goodly gallant bark.
without started seam or rlven sail, Wen breast
the'novel tempest of time and chance
For there is beacon star which still burns with
undiminished lustre, whispering in our ears Q
eharasso full of joy, that life seems SO new-that
danger il forgatten, whilst sorrow flies before its
inspiration.-for there is Heavenly spirit WHICH
still beckons us onward. And Lo ! high over the
raAparts of the wished for goal, eur Haunting flag
is given to the breese when we behold the tails
manic words in living characters of fire upon it
Hope and PS'seuere. fl were called upon to name
the emotion of the human mind, which is most Of
icient in its influence upon mankind-which sug-
gests the grandest enterprises, and which supports
US under the most trying reverses, ! am certain
that should only be anticipating the judgment
of my intelligent auditory in pronoqncing Hope,
to be that feeling The earliest visions of child
hood tinged with its golden hues, and the
reveries of the boy and the man filled with gor-
SeOuS pdldCeS, Alu VI Csbu
build lit animates the school boy and girl at their
tasks; it emboldens the soldier on the battlefield;
it nerves the sailor against the peris of the sea-
it gives light and strength to the patriot in HIS
struggles for his countrys good. 1t achieved the
splendid results in the discovery of America, by
Columbus and his little band, and though the
mountain pillows of the Atlantic rose up before
them and the rude winds Of Heaven blew around
them; and amid the laughs and SCOTS of the wit
ty, and the lamentations of the loving it led them
on-they were guided by it until they rested from
! their labors doubts and fears, upon the borders
| of new and noble continent. Though in results
less splendid than these, find it in the eveEy
day affairs of life, supporting the weak, eIQour-
| aging the strong, and reckoning on the prosper
GUS to more and varied fields of usefulness and re-
| nown. We see it sitting by the side of the moth
er in Graded infancy, while she winds the laurel
wreath around the brow of her loved infant, teach
ing her to love not only that which is but will be-
when weakness puts on strength and walks; when
! knowledge has brought its treasures, and, when
wealth. fame and honor shall attend its steps. 1t
stands by the man Of business in his daily tolls;
it mounts with the statesman up the sleeps of Of
| fee. 1t lies down with the poor and rich on the
bed of anguish, and accompanies the Physician in.
the sick chamber; it walks with the strong upon
the path of vigor, and there are none poor as
to live without its eompanionship, and none 80
high as not to need It's help.
Einally nv friends, If tears shall water our