Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-04-19
To the Readjusters Of Augusta County,

I see that you are called upon to as
semble at the Court house, on the 18th
of April. for certain purposes. think
can safely say that almost every one
of you is personal friend of mine, and
that am under past political obliga-
tions to almost every gentleman of your
party in the county; therefore, you
can feel with certainty that I address
this letter to you in all kindness,
sincerely hoping and believing that
you will receive it in the same spirit
in which it was written. I know
that, with very few exceptions, you are
sensible, honorable, noble, and brave
but you yourselves are bound to admit
that some of you are led on by blind
zeal, some by personal hatred, and 9TH
ers by desire for Office. Already the
mask has been torn from the face OF
your "veiled prophet )" already has he
sold you for price, and de res ask you
to ratify the sale. Will you do it? God
forbid! Will you confirm this unholy
alliance he has formed with the enemies
of your State? Will you join their
ranks to make war upon your fellow
| citizens? Will you snatch from the
temple of fame the monument of Vir-
ginia's greatness, which was erected
and placed there by our great ana pa
triotic ancestors Will you turn your
claims to patriotism in the eyes of the
present and future generations all to
crafty your hatred of the people who
differ with you in reference to the State
debt.
Now, suppose you form this coalition,
and success crowns your unpatriOtic eff
forts, what will be the result? Already
can I see in imagination the Court of
Appeals, with their ermine bedraggled
and besmirched in partisan ceaspool,
deciding cases Qike old Jeffreys of Eng
land) to please tyrant see man
seated in the GubernatOrial chair whose
hatred to one-half the people is un-
bounded. A Legislature, worse, if pos
ton which framed the Underwood Con-
stitution. Legislature which will riot
and revel in the Capitol of your State, q
see men totally ignorant and depraved
filling most of the offices in the State.
You will be compelled to give the mi
nor offices, and some of the most im-
portant ones, to the negroes J I see ig.
norance, superstition, and fanaticism,
stalking like pestilence over the land
and overwhelming in its accursed course
the intelligence, decency, and respecta-
bility of our people. see civilization
backstepping into barbarian and sweep
ing into the Unsuitable jaws of commu-
nism all that is good. holy, or virtuous.
This is no exaggeration, no overwrought
picture; and beg to call your attention
to Athens, Rome, and Syracuse; to
England, under the Rump parliament;
to France and all of the Swiss republics
in the last decade of the last century,
and to France on two occasions since
All of these are fearful illustrations of
the result of just what you are called
upon to do-tO place your State In the
hands of the ignorant and vicious of
her people. Readjuster Democrats of
Augusta, will you do it? Would such
a course elevate the negro or would it
lower you? Would not the many absorb
the few? Finally, in the name of all
that is dear to you and to me, either in
the past, the present, or the future, re-
fleet calmly and dispassionately, each
one of you for himself. Do not be gov
erned by those who have axes to grind,
but let every man decide for himself, at
his own home, and by his own Preside
If the dreadful knife is TO be plunged
into the already bleeding bosom of the
venerable mother of us all, let her not,
as she wraps the robe of her former
greatness around her, and falls at the
base of the statue of Washington, ex-
claim, with modification and astonish-
ment, "And you, too, o my sons!"
]. N. OPIE.