The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1876-12-07
Thanksgiving Day.

that more than i,iic of the churches was
opened for services, nor were there any in1i-
cations that The President Of The United
States. had by pn,c!amation, formally rec
commended Thursday. The Both OF Sogemtcr
as a day appropriate 10 give thanks for The
blessings vouctsafed 80 us as y people except
that the Banks and post office and telegraph
Office were closed. The people seemed to be
impatient about this. and the remark was
frequently iaade that the officers in control
4 OF these places. had better he attending TO
4 their business. than conforming 10 q custom
that had nothing in it, at this psstien!ar time,
to commend it's observance.
We cannot understand, at least, Hhy mia
stcrs ia the various churches could not l.avi.
elevated themselves above the common pO-
Utica! ,lisputau,s, and made an effort to di-
rect The thoughts OF their congregations
away from the ;,ceri.ities and jealousies aris-
Ing from the heat OF great party contest
TO contemplation OF the wonderful progress
OF che nation. and the innumcrabc temporal
blessings which have attended our advancing
civilization The political party that domi-
mates in the State, we know, does not regard
any condition OF the people rs calling for
thalsf1s unless the administration comes from
A. 1t can see no good, recognize 10 virtue,
except that viii. h issues from it., and blinded
by PASSION and prejudice, the constituent ell
ements close their eyes to flat religious free
dom WHICH allows every one to worship I'M
der bis owl vine and fig tree. We did ex-
pecs something higher and nobler from the
ministry. ITS sphere Gf duty and study Is
above the bitter strifes of partixan dctna-
gogues. and should enable them to einpar-
TALLY weigh and consider the difficulties and
dangers our free system of government has
had to encounter and overcome.
Especially lis there cause for thanks ia the
condition OF the States, which, fifteen years
ago, madly discovered their connection from
the government, and prccipitated food OF
woes upon the country that draped in
mourning every household When we look
back TO the gloomy surroundings Of 1865,
think OF what we then expected, and what
we now have, surely there is abundant cause
Tor thanks, that the wounds OF war have so
soon been healed, and that smiling peace
and plenty reign where the laws and the
constitution are respected and o5eyed.
Our political system, which presents it's
highest virtue in the religious freedom it
guarantees, has passed through an ordeal
that strained its vital forces, and came forth
| stronger in the purgation it endured than it
\ was before the assault upon it's integrity was
instituted. It is true the results of the rad
\ icai revolution through which our industrial,
/ social and political relations passed, have not
yet been perfectly adjusted. Even now there
is danger threatening, in the assimilation Of
/ the conflicting passions and interests, Incl
\ denE to the great upheaval we have under
gone, yet we have faith in the guidance Of
that wiser power whose providence presides
over tho Gestinies of men. The angry Gar
rings and fierce engagements born Of the
politial struggle as yet undetermined, at this
i writing, are but the travail, of new life to
\ an enlarged freedom, and another attesta-
ton to the elasticity Of our political system,
which will come forth stronger and better
defined than before. But for the political
struggle in several Of the Southern States
which has engaged the attention Of the coun-
/ try FOR weeks past, the fendisl. barbarism and
cruel nlockery Of christianity which have been
brought 20 light would not have been fully
known. There is no chapter in the bloody
annals OF the MusseIman; no CHASTITY ceremo
NAL Of the Hindou no inhumsn reveiry of
the American savage, that compares in atroc-
ity 20 tho devilish crimes that have marked
the pathway Of the Democratic patty In
Louisiana and South Carolina. These GRIM
son offenses against Heaven ard humanity,
would not have been presented-to the aston.
ished gaze OF the American. people, had not
the political contest so recently asitating the
country, turned On the States referred to.
The terrible blltcheries aud indescribable sEf-
ferings which have attended the efforts to
| secures solid South for Tilden, might, at least
for the present, have been . sealed book, and
the cane-brakes and swamps Of that region
drank the blood Of inoffending negroes, with
cut touching the American heart. True,
the crimson life would have cried to Heav-
en-, but the story Of the woman who was car
ried before the representative men Of the
North in Louisiana, a few days ago, with
her ''wounds and bruises and purifying
sores," would never have reached the people
If the country, and made its appeal 10 hui
tnanity ard civilization.
These horrid recitals have everywhere
been read, but we have no protest from the
pulpit in the section where they were Gem
mitted,-no fierce dcnunciatlon from the
press Of the atrocities that cause shudder
throughout chr istendom. The crimes are
perpetrated in the name Of the Democratic
party and iii the interests Of Samuel J. iii
den, and therefore neither the pulpit nor the
press dare raise S voice against them In a
Southern State
Ministers Of the gospel will grow eloquent
in their portrayal of the sufferings Of the chris
tians under Turkish doninion;they will tear
passion to tatters ia denouncing the inhu-
man Musselman for his crueties to the help
less Greek; and pathetically appeal to the lib
crafty OF their congregations for contriont-
ions to the missionary fund for the CONVEX
sion OF the heather. What have they to say
of the savage brutality and heathe,ish cruel
ties practiced upon the poor negroes Of the
South, just because they exercise legal and
constitutional right in voting to suatain the
government of the country?
| We were grati1ed to see that the ministers
of the Northern churches improved Thanks
Giving day, by calling attention to the polt-
ical condition Of the country, and interpret
ing the events of recent date in broad,
patriotic and christian spirit. The American
people are instinct,vely iust-they hate OPP
| preston and cruelty, and will not be slow to
| understand the terrible recItais OF oltrages
committed in Louisiana upon the colorcd
people for no other reason than that they
| would not contribute their votes to make up
| a ''Solid Sonth'' for ''Tiiden, Hendricks and