Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-03-18


revolution into the electric sentence, lib
erty or Death;'' of the State which
cemented union with that vast territorial
dowry out of which five States were carv
ed, having now here some ninety represen-
tafivss; of that State whose Madison wa
named 'the Father of the Constitution, >
and whose Marshall became its most emf
nept expounder; of the State which hold
within its bosom the sacred ashes of Wash
iDgton, and cherishes not less the princi
Piles which once kindled them with fires OF
Heaven descended; it has seemed fitting to
Yol, gentlemen, that citizen of that State
should be also invited to deliver an address
on dis occasion.
Would, with all my heart, that worthi-
er one had been your choice. Too highly
do Iesteem the position in which you place
me r. feel aught but solemn distrustful-
nelE-nd ndaPprehension. And who, indeed,
might not shrink from such theatre when
WTinthrop's eloquence still thrilled all
hearts, with Washington the theme?
Yet, in Virginia's name, thank you for
the honor done her. She deserved it.
Times there are when even hardihood is
virtue, and to such virtue alone do l lay
claim in venturing to abiae your choice to
be her spokesman.
None more than her could offend did
take opportunity to give her undue exalta-
tion. Her foremost son does not belong to
her alone, nor does she so desire him. HIS
part and her part in the Revolution would
have been as naught butfor what was so glo-
riously done by bis brothers in council andi n
arms, and by his sister Colonies, who kept
the mutual pledge of e.Life, Fort une, and
Sacred Honor"
MOUNT VERNON.
One bundled and fifty three years ago,
on the banks of the Potomac, in the coun-
ty of Westmoreland. on a spot marked
now only by a memorial stone; of the
blood Of the people, whom I have family
described; fourth in descent from the Colo
mel John Washington, whom l have nam
., there was born sen to Augustine and
Mary Washington. And not many miles
above his birthplace is the dwelling where
he lived, and how lies buried.
B rne upon the bosom of that river
which here mirrors Capitol dome and mon
umental shaft, in it's seaward flow, the riv-
er itself seems to reverse it's current. and
bear us silently into the past. Scarce has
the vista of the city faded from our gaze
when we behold on the woodland height
thatswells above the watars-amidst walks,
and groves. and gardens, the white porch of
that old Colonial Plantation Home, which
has become the shrine of so many pilgri-
mage.
Contrasting it as there it stands to-day,
with the marble halls which we have left
behind US, we realize the truth of Emer-
son; ''The atmosphere of moral sentiment
is region of grandeur which reduces all
material magniicence to toys, yet opens to
every Nfetch that has reason the doors Of the
Universe"
The quaint old wooden mansion, with
tho stately but simple old fashioned ma
hogany furniture, real and uDgarnished;
the sword and relics of campaigns ana
scenes familiar to every school-boy now !;
the key of the Bastile hanging in the hall
incased in glass, calling to mind Tom
Paine's happy expression: ''Tnat the prin-
ciples of the American Revolution opened
the Bastie is not to be doubted; therefore
the key comes to the right place." the
black velvet coat worn when the farewell
address to the Army was made; the rooms
all in nicely of preparation as if expectant
of the coming host-we move amongst
these memorials of days and men long van-
ished-we stand under the great trees and
watch the solemn river, in its never ceasing
fcw--ve gaze upon the simple tomb,
whose silence is unbroken, save by the low
murmur of the waters or the wild birds
note-and we are enveloped in an atnos-
phere OF moral grandeur, which no pageant
ry of moving men, nor splendid pile can
generate. Nightly, on the plain of Mara
tbop. the Greeks have the tradition that
there may yet te heard the neighng Of
chargers, the rushing of sha lows of spec
tral war. In the spell that Droods DER the
sacred graves of Yer. on, Patriotism, Hon
or, Courage, Justice, Virtue, Tr ,th, seem
bod ed forth-the only imperishable reali-
ties of mans being.
YOUTH OF WASHINGTON.
There emerges from the shades the figure
of a youth over whose cradle had lowered no
star of destiny, nor dandled royal crown
AN ingenious youth, and one who in his
early days gave auguries of great powers;
the boy whose strong arm could fling a
stone across the Rappahannock; whose
strong will could tame the most fiery horse;
whose just spirit made him the umpire of
his fellows; whose obedient heart bowed to
a mothers yearning for her son, and laid
down the Midshipman's warrant in the
British Navy, which answered his first am.
bition's dream-the student transcribing
mathematical problems, accounts and bust
ness forms, christening to the soldiers and
seamen of vessels in the river, as they tell
of chair breadth 'scapes by flood and field: p
the early moralist in his thirteenth year
compiling matured ''Rues for behavior and
conversations" the surveyor of sixteen, ex
ploring the wilderness for Lord Fairfax
sleeping on the ground, climbing mountains
swimming rivers, killing and cooking his
own game. noting in his diary soils, min.
erals and locations, and making maps which
are models of nice and accurate draught.
manship; the incipient soldier, studying
tactics under Adjutant Muse, and taking
lessons in broads word feuce from the ole
soldier of fortune, Jacob Van Braam-the
Major and Adjutant General of the Virgin.
ia frontier forces at nineteen-we seem tc
see him yet as there he stood, model oi
manly beauty in his youthful prime "a man
in all that makes man, ere manhcod's
years have been Misunderstanding on the
threshold of grand career hearing his
L., hof,,,o I,;v,o onI fho of b,c