Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1873-09-05
Pen Pictures of the Two Virginia
Candidates.

here are TWO pictures OF the TWO caEdl
dates for the governship of Virginia, given
by their political opponents, as they saw
them at the first meeting at Warrenton on
Monday week. That Of Kemper was writ
ten by the Radical correspondent Of the Bal
timore American" and that Of Hughes is
by the Conservative correspondent of the
Richmond ''Whig.' The first writer says
The Democratic candidate for Governor
is an effective platform orator. He has a
fine presence, and the evidence of bis hard
service under the banner of the Contedera-
cy was an additional charm to the majority
of his audience. 1t will be long time yet
before either in the North or South the
crippled limbs and the scars of a soldier fail
to command enthusiasm But, besides this
there is great deal of that inde6nable quail
ity which we call personal magnifcence
about General Kemper He is easy and
graceful in his manner, his voice has a
smooth, resonante quality, and that peculiar
ly dogmatic, take,it-f or-granted style Of
Southern stump.speakers is in him, mellow
ed down into canyon doubt what-L-say
method. But his speech, for sound logic,
was far below that OF Colonel Hughes If
[ may be allowed 10 say SO, it seemed uu-
worthy the man. It was nothing more
than sorry, shabby, thread-bare deliueation
of the negroes The curious part of it to a
disinterested listener, was that he accused
the Republican party of endeavoring to ar
ray the blacks against the whites. II the
accusation were true-which [ do not think
it is-how much worse is it to do this than
marshal the whites against the blacks and
was precisely the tendency of Gen. KEN
per's meliauous sentence. And he contra.
dicted himself It is not necessary to say
how foolish it would be for any party to seek
to make itself the special champions of a
race who are in the minority [ credit the
Virginia Republicans with a little more wis.
dom than to attempt such a thing, and yet
General Kemper gravely assured the two
thousand people who were listening to him
that this is paeclsely their aim. His speech
was little else but variation upon this one
theme. but it took wonderfully It aroused
the passions of his hearers, and they ap.
plauded him to the echo The reference to
carpet baggers was scarcely less welcome,
and it seemed to be considered very fine
thing when he touched upon Col. Hughes
as the former ''great editorial champian of
slavely" Withers' address was very much
of repl alton Of that Of General Kemper,
but it did not awake the same enthusiasm
He is not the orator that the other is, and
he cannot clothe his specious sentiments in
the same alluring gard. Your readers may
see from the sketch which have given OF
this inaugural meeting Of the campaign the
issues upon which it is to turn. | shall not at.
tempt to prophesy the election Of either tick
ct, but will repeat that whilst the Republi-
cans ought to win on the basis Of the welfare
Of Virginia they are faced by the overpow-
eripg argument against ''negro suprema-
cy'
The Wings correspondent says of
Hughes
After the usual delays, Col. Robert W.
Hughes wars introduced by Carter of Vir
ginia. He stood on stand in full view of
the crowd, who were seated or standing on
the spacious slope in front Of the Warren
Green Hotel. In sorrow more than anger
[ scanned his form robed in a well-6ttipg
frock coat. His face was pale but classical
ly handsome, and while he did not look like
the melancholy Dane, he reminded me of
preacher with Dad digestion who enters his
pull pit feeling that he has the sins of all his
parishioners on his shoulder As be locked
out upon his audience no beam of sympathy
came from single eye that he in other days
cared for. No generous applause said 60
on, we will listen ThenEarl Of Essex on
the scafold, about to be beheaded, could not
have looked lonelier than he did before he
uttered his first sentence-'I am a native of
the county Of John Randolph, Of Roanoke. :"
His voice weakened before he reached the
close, and iu the next sentence, Il reside
in the great Southwest, the country of the
Prestons, the Floyds, the Johnstons, whose
blood courses the veins of my son, y it grew
less steady. II man at this juneure had
said anything unkind to the speaker be ought
to have been murdered without the bene-
fit Of the clergy" A rain came here to his
relief, and he changed quarters, speaking
afterwards from the porch OF the hotel Ma
lures tears of mercy helped considerably,
and the speech was continued, but with
what travail only the speaker fully remem-
bers The customary Radical arguments
were Of course used, with not 1.-THE of the
force, however, he could have given them
with his pen, for there are few better writer's
in the land to-day than he is By the way
Mr. Webster knew nothing about clog dan
cling, nor can General Grant sing, and why
should it mortify any friend Of Hughes that
he is not success as stump speaker p
There was one passage in Colonel Hughes
speech that surprised everybody. He said
he was Union man before the war, was in
favor of Stephen A. Douglas tor President
in 1860, and refused to support his life long
friend, John B. Floyd, for the State Con.
vention because he favored secession II
he had said | am the nephew OF the Emperor
Of China, and the author Of BETSY and |
are Out" the old Wings and Democrats
present could not have been in fact more as
tonishrd, forthey had all, up to this time,
believed be was Breckenridge Democrat
and an advocate Of secession.
A Texas CENT1pRDE. Washiu gtor
"Chronicle" of Monday says /: First Assis
tant Postmaster General Marshall received
Saturday per express from Groesbeck 1
large Texas centipede, measuring about
Inches in length. The young gentleman