The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-01-20
The DrOneS.


They are unlike drones elsewhere: They
are raised in the bosom Of society In
which the virtues of honesty and pride are
taken in with their mothers milk. We cay
nridc because it is indeed virtue, and
has innocently enough much to do with the
sad situation of the drones. 1t makes them
too proud to solicit employment or work,
and too proud to beg. So they occupy q
position of inactivity, living upon relations
and friends, (which Virginia hospitality
and family affection have taught them to
consider sort of right or honored CUSTOM
waiting for something to turn up" And
thus they will continue to be unemployed
and dependent as long as they remain in
Virginia. So that the true remedy-the
true salvation for the drone-is "cmlgra-
tion.''
This is not new social feature-nor Is
the remedy new. Slavery made manual
labor degrading. The young men could
not all find employment in the professions,
nor could they all own farms. They we're
reluctant to leave their native land, and
fingered, luxuriating and frolcling, until
shame and a threadbarc welcome drove
them to seek fortunes in distant fields.
There they ceased to be proud, and learned
to be energetic, and rose to fortune anu
fame. This is the history of the Virginia
drone in brief.
The race Of drones has not much dimin-
ishcd. They are still numerous-still pos
sessed of the same peculiaritics and the
same capabilities that may display them
selves under exigency. There is reason and
cxigcncy enough here to call all their forces
into action; but while many have accepted
the situation, thrown off false pride, and
gone to work in manner that might be
called heroic, there are great many who
cannot shake off their pride or lethargy, and
who still hang around the dep6ts, the erog-
shops, and the crossroads, doing nothing
for themselves or society. The remedy for
these is emigration. They have force, they
have capacity; and they owe it to them
selves to 90 where these may be brought
into exercise, where they may become use
full, and where they may be happy. 1t would
be noblcr for them to triumph at home
to help to build up their mother State; but
it is disgraceful for them to remain, making
no effort to DO either; and far better would
it be that they should distinguish them
selves in other fields til an that they should
be droncs and eyc-sores here.
We have just heard Of remarkable in
stances of personal independence and
energy shown by Virginians in the far
West, under exieencies and amidst people
who all worked with their hands, who we're
raised to ease and affluence, and who here
never put hand to any greater labor than
that Of dressing themselves. Delicate and
dainty ladies slept under roofs where the
light of the moon streamed in upon them,
and mothers Rugged their babes to their
breasts while the bleak winds swept through
tHc lFall SuelteE NHiSu ehiioUuuou 'iiSih'
Men and women thus educated and thus
bred rose early in the morning in the in
hospitable cline, with the earth submerged
deeply beneath the snow, and set about
work: the mon getting mountaineering it
many miles upon sleighs-and feeding, and
the women milking, and cooking, and wash
ing and they had good appetites, and good
and grew in strength and rcsolu-
ton, and the bright eye, the ruddy check,
and contcnted face, showed what q sweet
cner Of life industry is. What bene6-
cent dispcnsation, after all, is the doom
that makes man eat his bread in the sweat
of his brow. Oh, false Shame, what a world
of happiness dost thou not steal from man!
Who that has lived fifty years does not
know many instances of the brilliant sue
cess of Virgininns who were called "droncs"
at home? 1t was the subjecting them to
cxigcncy, where they were among strangers,
and where they were relieved from the
pride which made them ashamed to work
among their acquaintance, that brought
ont the true mettle that was within them
and gained for them noble triumph in the
battle of life. Every man of fifty has these
instances. Every ncighborhood has its
book full Of stories relating to persons who
have prosrered by going where they were
compelled to work-storics that rival ro-
nance in their wonderful details.
Now, let us trust that as a new era is
opened for Virginia that the drones will
be more ready to lay aside their pride and
accommodate themselves to exigcncy at
home. Many glorious fellows have done
80. But let us hope that those who cannot
or will not yield to the demands of the day
will emigrate, and 60 where they will not be
ashamed to work, or where they will be
forced to do so. Here drone sets bad
example, and does an injury to society much
greater than the pro luctive industry of one,
or two, or even three, men equal in power
to himself can repair. Such men ought to
90. Their friends should advise them to go,
and God bless them We are going to work
here in Virginia, and drones, who are more
and more in the way every day, should, I'M
der every consideration, with reference
alike to themselves and society, depart to
other lands.
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