The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1882-11-16


state agent during the Civil War in Amel
5 ica." lover the Alleghanies" &c, 81,
| Siaunton-S. Nj. Yost Il Son, Publisher
The appearance of a history of our count
in times like the present, Astounding in strang
incidents and striking examples of progress
and Development, cannot but he regarded q
an interesting event in The course of our lii
erature. The intellect and energy OF our PEG
pie are mainly directed to practical matters
the, settlement of our vast domain. the devel
opnitnt Of our Agricultural and mineral re
sources, the constructions OF roads and othe
public works, the erection of manufactures
and The accumulation of private fortune. AL
ready results, in this direction. of the mos
\ astounding character have been attained. Tn,
estates OF our millonalres dwarf those Of the
Dukes and other hereditary Lords of Great
Britain, and exceed those of the petty Princes
Continental Europe. At the same time the
wealth. oi The United States, accurately ascer
tained and put down at $44 100000 900, is
greater than that of England-the richest
country of Europe by $6.OO0OO00O and that
of France by $l300O,0O0.000 In the midst Of
this material development, this lively excite
ment produced 10y the race tor wealth, the
public should he congratulated that there are
j, still some men left who have the taste to de-
vote themselves to literature, and the abilities
! 10 give the results of their lapors TO the world
in Il form likely to establish the authors fame
and make their works read by remote gener-
eratons. Few writers can employ their tai
ents with more utility, confer more practical
benefit on the existing generation, than those
who present To us the early history of our set
Elements and the lives of our pioneers and
founders 1t Is difficult TO treat of subjects of
more extensive interest or greater arduous-
ness. Such works from men OF robust intel
lect land such only can treat of them with
success who think with business and sobriety
and who write with avigor and perspicacity)
are OF the highest value and importance. They
make know ledge more familiar and virtue
more engaging. That the author of the history
before us belongs to this select class cannot be
denied. He not only aims at extending the
boundaries of knowledge, and rectitying the
| errors offreceyed opinion, but has applied
himself 10 trace out the operation of general
causes, and by combining the past with the
! present. and pointing out the connections and
reciprocal action of co-existent phenomenal
develop the harmonious system which actually
prevails in the apparent chaos of human at
f,,lrs and to give something like an assurance
us TO the complexion of that futurty towards
which'our thoughts are so anxiously driven by
the selfish as well as the generous principles
OF our nature. We are acquainted with no
writer who has made more successful at
tempt to revive and rehabilitate the past.
The work before us displays admirably the
systcmatizing capacity Of the author, well rs
the moral enthusiasm by which he seems pos
sessed. In his eloquent introduction he thus
refers to the causes which led to his work:
| "a strong wish to preserve, in a permanent
form, a. record of the past. that it may no
| longer be clOuded by ignorance nor perpleXcd
| by fiction to rescue from unnerited oblivion
| the memories of our founders, whose heirs we
are, with respect to civil and religious laws,
language, science and territory; to keep alive
in their descendants love and veneration for
their memories and spirit of patriotism, has
IA. 1
heen well said that love of country and its
institutions and distinguished benefactors Is as
natural to man as is the love of those who are
endelrcd TO him by his earliest his most pleas
| ing and permanent associations. And this
sentiment inspires deep sense of obligation
10 benetactors, and to that Being who, in His
infinite mercy,is the bestOwer of every blessing
1 enjoy ed by man. 1t cannot be denied That to !
our foretalhers we owe much of the happiness
81 apln md <
worthy descendant of those gall mt and adj
ventureus spirits must feel a strong desire to
! become intimately acquainted with their char
acters and history. A remembrance of what
is past, and an anticipation of what is to come,
seem to be the two faculties by which man
differs from most ANNALS Though beasts
enjoy them in a limited degree,yet their whole
life seems taken up in the present, regardless
of the past and the future. Man, on the con-
trary, endeavurs TO derive his happiness, and
experiences most of his miseries, from these
| two sources.
That every existing history of Virginia is
| incomplete, is generally admitted and regretted
The student must still have recourse to Hen
lng's Statutes at Large as the best record Of
the intellectual and moral advancement in our
Commonwealth. When complete history of
Virginia is written, it will contain not only
full accounto of her political, civil and military
transactions, but clear and concise expo
sitiOn OF the character of her authors, scholars,
statesmen, jurists and warriors, and also a
view OF her physical resources. Before such
u comprehensive work can he composed, it is
necessary TO obtain true and precise details of
private and preliminary transactions. In HIS
tory, it is not the great and striking events
that are instructive ibut, the accessory facts or
the circumstances that have prepared or pro-
duced them. his is evident, because it is
only by a knowledge of the preparatory Cir
cumsla nces that we can be enabled to AVOID or
to obtain similar results. r. 1t is not from the
issue of battle that we receive instruction,
but from the different movements that led to
its decision, which, though less splendid, are,
however the causes, while the event is only
the effect lfSuch is the importance of those
details that, without them, the term of COM
| parison is vicious, and has no analogy with
] the objectto which We would apply it. The
! history of a county should around in details,
50 necessary to the calculation of the different
parts of a general history; and if complete
history of each county cannotb be now written,
all the fragments at least, should be collected
and put ill order, as necessary 10 just con-
illusions, as to Tie formation Of society, the
mechanism OF government, and a correct view
of the habits, manners. opinions, laws internal
and external regimen of each community or
state. The gathering together of this material
for history Virginia. ITS preservation in
convenient shape tor reterence-GL has been
SAID TO know where yOn can find thing is, IN
fact, the greatest part of learning)-is one of
the duties which the present owes to the
| future"
| $4,000 HI4tfN MAJ
| A little later he "sollcits indulgence for such
errors, omissions or imperfectlons rs may be
| found in his work, and W i'll en,leavor 10 rem
der second edition, should one be called for,
more worthy of public favor" ........s
By way of presenting a complete picture,
he gives not only a graphic description of our
ancient limits, wiien- Augusta extended from
the Blue Ridge mountains to the mississippi
river, and of the aboriginal Inhabitants, but
also of Virginia during her colonial career.
In his interesting account of the Red men he
rejects all that is marvellous and repugnant to
experience and common sense and as little to
be believed as the fabulous orig in assigned by
| the Cloths to their enemies the Huns, namely
that the witches of Soy thia had crossed in the
desert, with internal spirits, and tina. the Huns
were the offspring of this cxecrable conjunc-
ton. In lieu of such fables, he presents true
al IND in, md