Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1877-08-16
Col. Holidays Speech.

the DlPnt OF inc nOuiuatlOu LOT GOYeFuoF, Coi
Holiday said -
My FRIENDS AND NEIGHBoRs-I thank you
for this compliment. But no will not take
it to myself, take 1t as an Offering to the
grand Convention of VirgDiaDs assembled in
the Capital Of the State. for having conferred
so great an honor upon one of your fellow
citizens.
And, surely no Que appreciates it more high
ly than myself [ did not seek it, because l
thought it too high to be sought by any man. l
thought others than myself must be the Judge
OF 10Y fitness for so exalted station and now
that The crown is handed me over such compel
itors-gcutlemeu distinguished by all those
noble qualities that have made Vlrginia's re-
nowD; eminent in peace and war-sodiers and
statesmen whose Dames have filled the mouths
| OF all the people and are DOW part OF their
| countIy's history-this is an honor that ought
| TO satisfy the most ambitious.
| But, my friends, whilst it gives you so much
| pleasure, [ feel that mine is overshadowed at
this time with the sense of my responsible
Ties.
| Ambition, with its attendants Pride and Ar
| rogance, Lave 20 business here at such an
hour" When look back over the long line
Of iustrious men, beginning With Patrick
Henry and Thomas Jefferson. whom, if elected,
| | will succeed; when | think OF the transcen.
dant memories OF my State, kDoWa wherever
the Eoglish language is spoken or read, and
rivaling that Of any nation that lives in his
tory; when / recall the stories of her triumphs
when peace reigued, and fher victories % the
field oil arms; when think of her 10 the days
Of her prosperity, when refinement ard purity
prevailed in all her borders. and the faint CT
dlshonoT came not nigh her escutcheou, and
reflect that it falls to my lot, DOW in this her
hour Of tlla, to speak and act 10 her name and
behalf. and uphold her ancient standard-l for
get all personal considerations, and sell is sWal-
lowed up in the sense Of vast responsibility.
pray that, should tho people confirm the
action Of the Convention, aud [ put on tue
robes of Office, self may never more appear till
they are laid aside.
Ii you are graiied at my elevation cannot
Here was born and reared, here all my lie
has been spent, and hero | hope 10 DO buried.
You know me better than all the world beside,
and you took me with wonderful uuanimity
and presented ME to the people Of the State as
your choice for Governor. If it is an honor to
DO chosen by one of the grandest Conventions
that ever assembled, regard it as no less an
honor to he presented for that choice by suoh
people as inbabit this Valley.
But when leave this quiet town to act as
the Chief Magistrate Of this Commonwealth, |
shall know 90 Section. Whilst We love our
beautiful Valley, We love, too, the Stale Of
which she is part, and we have always con
tribnled Of our treasure, our labor. and our
blood to maintain her prosperity and honor
So now, whether 10 the Mountains, Pied
mont, Southsidc, or by the Sea. I shall think
only Of how can make Virginia in all her do.
main happy, prosperous, glorious. - Winchester
7rnses
l'LoGG1Na.-W are glad that aogging as a
punishment for petty crimes has such an able
advocate as the Southern Churchman of this
city. In this week issue of that journal the
following article appears:
We have several times shown the benefit Of
"whipping' for petty crimes. In Virginia it
is we'll established. In Delaware they have
never given it up it works to charm. We
are glad to see the following article on the
subject in Tile Churchn,an. 1t is sad that
people have to be put in jails and penitentaries
and have to be hanged. But one object Of
punishment is to prevent crime; nothing does
it more effectually Chat is,petty crimes) than
Aogging:
The warden of theConnecticut State Prison,
one Of the best conducted prisons in the Uni
ted States, urges the reinstatement of whip
ping as punishment for many of the lesser
crimes which now bring fines and brief con.
fnemcnt upon the offenders. He cites in.
stances among the convicts under bis own
charge of hardened and obstinate mon be.
coming subdued and inoffensive under the
dread of the whip.
The whipping post has been called relic of
barbarism. Possibly whippings should not be
public. But whipping and whipping in pub
lie arc to be considered separately. Public
hangings have been abandoned on the general
ground that punishments should not be in
Aicted before the gaze of curious crowds. But
punishments must continue so long as vice and
crime continue.
1t is curious fact that whipping should be
called relic of barbarism and still be the
commonest form of punishment for children,
who, from the tenderness Of their disposition
and their physical organization, feel its sevre,
ity most keenly.
| Really, one would suppose that the only
reason for not applying punishment which
is effectual with boys and girls to grown men
aud women would DO that the latter had
such strength and powers of endurance that
whipping produced no pain sufficient for
punishment. II, however, rs Warden Hewes
asserts, adults are more easily tanned by
whipping, the objection to its infection is done
away.
Certainly there is large class of people
whose moral faculties are dcadened and
stunted, SO that they are to be treated only as
| children. Let the government stand in the
place Of parent to them, and, if necessary,
chastising parent.
The tramp nuisance would be greatly
abated if fogging were awaiting the vagrant
in any town he might visit, and there arc
many offences against the person and the pro.
perty Of men which cannot be reached, seem
ingly, in any other way than in coporeal pun
ishmont.