Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1885-10-09
Little recks he, in his light.head

foot shouting, "IIurrah for Wise y
bLittle recks he that the great shout
from the foOtmen on the sidewalk
is cheer for his opponent! lie
hears the wild hurrah, vain and
eonceited he appropriates it to
himself, and smiles and bows until
tof a sudden the truth dawns on
him and he claps his hat upon his
head, grows redder Qf that be
possible), looks straight to the
front, and rides on hot and angry.
On comes the throng OF all sorts,
sizes and conditions: Six counties
ghave contributed in the effort to
make a "pageant'! Boys not over
fourteen years of age Republican
colored voters who are paid 30 cents
and furnished a horse, accept be-
cause it is the best pay they can
obtain in these Democratic hard
times Men who do not live in
Virginia! Anybody-everybody-
and all told they numbered by ac-
tual count not exceeding 3o2-
some persons placing the num-
Der as low as 800.
| And this is an ovation 7 This a
pageant 2 This enthusiasm ? Oh,
my countrymen think of it! Does
it not remind you of George Wash
ington ? Does it not remind you Of
Robert L. Lee?
| History tells us that George
Washington, when he reached New
York to take the oath as first Pres
ilent, was met at Jersey City by a
splendid barge rowed by thirteen
oarsmen in white. That on arriy-
ing at the ferry in New York a tri
umphal chariot awaited him and a
rich carpet was spread from his
barge to the chariot. lie declined
to tread the carpet or enter the
chariot. He expressed his aver
sion to such display and walked
quietly to his hotel, surrounded by
worshipping thousands.
Who among you but remembers
the splendid humility of Robert L.
Lee and the almost sensitive shrink
ing of that good, great man from
anything like ostentation.
Yet what a spectacle have we
here today Fitz, the nephew of
his uncle; Fitz, one of two dozen
nephews of equal intellect and
equal merit, cburnIng up enthusi.
asm by waddling his fat body in
bis Uncle Bob's saddle aud head
ing professions of men, some of
whom are colored Republicans,
hired at fifty cents and horse fur
nished
have little to tell you Of the
speech he makes. am told that
the speech is no legitimate part of
the entertainment. 1t is all extra
supplied as an incident to the great
show. The speech is to the page
ant the 'cavalcade,' the 'enthusi-
asm, what the sOng-bOOk is to
the circus. IL comes from the
bounty of the management, and is
thrown in without extra charge. l
hear that it abounds in poetry
poetry which may be from Byron,
or Tom Moore, or Ayre's almanac.
AS my distinguished competitor
has launched into poetry | may be
pardoned | hope, for quoting from
celebrated author as aprOpOs, q
few lines somewhat descriptive OF
Fitzhugh Smith. have taken the
liberty of adding to them a single
line of my own:
Rev. Gabe fuckers Remarks.
FOR FITzHUGH SMITH.
You may notch it on de palms as n mighty
risky plan
To make your judgment by de name dat
kivers up man
For hardly needs to tell you how you Of
ten come across No .i.fI
A fifty dollar saddle on a twenty y-dollar
hoss.
An workiR in de lowgrounds, you DIS
hlNoi dS gOu ~
Dat de fines shuck may hide de meanes'
nubbin in do row.
.i
| nebber judge of people dat meets along
de way,
BY de places whar de come from, and de
houses whar de stay;
For de bantam chickens awful fond Of
roosting very high,
An de turkey buzzard sails above de eagle
. in de sky;
Dey ketches little mlnners in de middle of
dc sea,
An you find lie smallest 'possum up dc
biggest kind of tree
Which the initials of his name may be little
Gen'l Fitzhugh Lee.
Fellow citizens, | trust that In the
foregoing bit of satire | have not
transcribed the legitimate bounds
of ridicule. Certainly | have no
such purpose and no intention to
insult or make a personal issue
with General Lee. You will bear
in mind that he has chosen in this
campaign to ask whether | was fit
person to be Governor, and illus.
trates his criticisms by an anecdote
which has been proved as utterly
false, in which he dragged in the
name of my dead father in a way
that was, to say the least, indeli-
cate and shocking to my sensibili-
ties Tie cannot complain, there.