The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-09-10
TO THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA.

The period in our Federal relations has
again arrived which renders it necessary
for the people to exercise their reto on par
ty dctation, and enforce their mandate
on sectional agitators. AS in 1860 so
now in 1872, the voice of passion and
prejudice is invoked to silence the sugges-
tons of wisdom and paralize the vigor and
active power Of law and reason. 1t is
again endeavored to appeal to local preju-
dices and sectional animosities as a means
of invoking popular passions and upheaving
individual antipathies to secure again the
ascendency in Federal councils, of the men,
North and South, who, in 1860, initiated
the late civil war, as means of destroy
ing the Union. Now, as then, appeal to
the people Of Virginia to lay aside passion,
act with wise forecast, and to secure stable
and firm Federal power as our only guaran-
tee for Union, peace and prosperity. | take
no heed of the wild clamors OF the press,
and scorn the impassioned philippics of the
enfuriated partisan. AS in 1860, so now l
warn you of approaching dangers of the
most serious and alarming character not
only to the vital powers of our Federal and
State governments, but also, to the COM
mercial, industrial, manufacturing and agri-
cultural interests of the people of this State.
Forget not the sad realities of the last
twelve years. You are asked to forget
them by the very men who precipitated
and forced them upon the country. They
cannot be obliterated; they will long stand
as landmarks for our posterty, and a
warning to ambitious leaders. followed by
an unwisely excited people.
Virginia now occupies Jas she did in
1S60-Gl, an important position. The hopes
of the American people and constitutional
government, rest greatly on her department
and the results of her action at this critical
period of our federative system of govern
ment. Look at her position in 1SG0-6l!
That she was wrong in acting as she then
did, no true patriot should charge. She
had, amid the taunts of many of her
bravest and truest sons, remained firm in
her refusal to secede. In the midst of the
widest excitement, she had remained cool.
Surrounded by enemies, scotfed at by
friends, threatened from the north and
derided at the south, she resolutely meas
ured the approaching dangers she warned
her sister states of the north, while she
pleaded with her sister states OF the south.
The voice of admonition, as it came to her
from the great past, was in stern but re-
spectful manner reiterated to the Federal
government. She was unheard, UNDECIDED,
scorned and threatened with the sword, if
she did not turn her batteries against her
sister states of the south. She proudly,
but in sorrow, unshcathed her sword and
placed it in the hands of her immortal son,
Robert L. Lee.
What has since occurred is history.
What is now to occur is greatly at her dis
posal. Shall she elevate to the Presidency
the man who has, during all this sad and
exhausting time, been her bitterest, most
relentless and powerful foe-full of hatred
to her people, institutions and past glory,
as he was vindctive, cruel, domneering in
her PROSTATE and ruined condition ? This
is the question upon which | wish to adj
dress you, as briefly as may be consistent
with the vast and vital issues involved.
Shall this man, Horace Greeley, by the
vote and appreciation of Virginia be the
next President of the United States 4?
Strange question to be Kissed into the ears
of the descendants of such an ancestry as
Virginians claim. Who is Horace Gree
ley? What are his antecedents ? What
one act in all the past has he ever per-
formed or attempted to perform, which
entities him to be countenanced and re-
spected by Virginan? What one thought
has he ever uttered or attempted to vindi-
cate, which in its origin, motive, tendency,
was not base libel upon her people, and a
sting of poison, sought to be struck into
her vitals? What single impulse of his
heart, for the last thirty years, has ever
throbbed in unison with her interests, in
accord with her people, or in sympathy for
her sufferings? What one plea of
extenuation, or word of kindness
before the war, during the war, or since
the war, has he uttered in behalf OF. Vir-
ginians, until the shadow Of the White
House fell upon his vision? Consult his
works, weigh his words, measure his acts,
and answer for yourselves these questions.
They are worthy of your deliberate re-
Election. 1t is sometimes as necessary to
think as il is to feel. 1t is not al,cays
judicious to set ones house on fire because
his fingers are frost-btten. No people or
States can either retain or recoper Their Id
critics by passionate action or impulsive
connections. Liberty never descends to
the level of popular passions. To be free,
we must not only be rational, but we must
be judicious as qoeu as firm. Free consti-
tutions have been much oftener sacrificed
to popular prejudices than fortified by
party or factious outbursts. None but
brave men, enlightened by the past and
provdently careful of the future, can hope
to recover lost franchises, or even main
tain what are left them. Prudence is the
essence of political wisdom, as success is
the result of unimpassioned combinations,
regulated by self-interest, and sustained by
self-respect.
What Virginian, with selfrespect, can
vote for Horace Greeley to rule over his