Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1885-12-11

been 0ftener victorious than defeat
ed in national contests, and nearly
always in power in State affairs.
! Peasants wing unified gallant
minorit, always struggling against
odds. Entirely unlike IN mental
organization, they differed entirely
in their treatment OF public Ques-
tiOns Ritchie blended Field Mar
shall with Drill Sergeant, while
Peasants took less stern view of
political duty and organization.
Ritchic's mind was q storch0nsc Of
accurate political Information and
dealt mainly with argument, and
facts, while Peasants rcvclled IN
opportunities for the iayOritc wcap-
Ons Ol French partlzan Journalists
-ridiculc and per- sif0gc. 1t was
his delight to chat the Enquirer
with a mere lapse of Mr.. Rltchle's
veteran pen, which made him say
that the Democracy, "llannibal-
like would hereafter 'carry the
war INTO Africa I'm those days
the orator and the editor was ex.
pectcd to give the public a 'littlc
Latte aOw and then, as Amos Ken
dali advised Andrew Jackson IN
the midst of a speech in Tennessee,
which seemed TO fail of effect.
Givc them some ancient history
or some Latin quotations. sald
Kendall. Peasants editorials, to
be- found in the files Of the Rich
mond Wing, gave ample evidence
Of his power OF discussion. But that
was an age Of Oratory among pub
lie men, OF scholarly illustration, OF
satire rather than serious stale
mcnt, of diatriLe rather than dis
cussion among public Journalists.
OF such oratory and such journal
ism little remains in the present
day. Yet that journalism was true
to its epoch, aud in nothing more
true than in its attendant OF the
dHcii0 as n necessary part OF the
journalists duty to his profession
and his party, and toscryc his party
was his highest professional duty.
1t was long train OF political rs
sues and Of collateral personal
controversy that brought young
Richie and IIampdcn Peasants
to confront each other forty years
ago on the Chesterfield shore, just
across James river from Richmond,
under cartel which meant GER
tain death for one or both. Pleas
ants was the victim. lie received
several wounds, not all Of them
necessarily fatal, but assuredly one
of them did its work. In the Wing
Office there is a small oil painting
OF him which gives the idea of
fine physiOgnOmy. Availability and
raillcry are blended in about equal
proportion with candor and manli-
ness. He was Of an eminent family
IN Virginia politics, especially in
/ the region above Richmond and
north Of James river. His family
gave one Governor to the State,
who was also United States Scna-
tor. John IIampden Peasants was
educated at William and Mary
College, and that institution when
he was student was "a forum of
constant political discussion among
the young Nirginians who were
sent there 10 be trained in the work
of making themselves great men,"
where their fathers tor generations
had lcarrcd that art. On the walls
in the Office of the wing, where the
portrait Of Peasants is seen, is m
ambrOtypc, after the style Of thirty
years ago, Of Robert Hidgway.
Roger \. Pryor, editor of the In
| gUirT, in lS5G fought his first duel
with Rideway, then editor Of the
/ Wig, NJ Bladcnsburg. I'm the fol
lowing October, Pryor shot DIR.
/ Fmncy, of AccOmac, at meeting
three miles from Richmond, and
after that Pryor fought no more
duels. He had made record
Ridgway was n handsome man, OF
six feet in height. Although "A
hotspur Of the days before the war,
ne did not believe in secession, and
retired 10 Amherst county, where
he remained a passive witness OF
events. Like the present editor OF
the Why, Mr. Elan, Rldgway was
so near sighted ~ TO be almost
blind, and therefore poorly quail
fed as a duelist. have never
heard that Ridgway's shots hurt
ANYBODY, or that be was harmed by
shots Of others, while Mr.. Elan
has been twice wounded during the
past six years without shooting
anybody else. Alexander Mosely,
one of the ablesi Of the wings ed
itOrS in It's prosperous days, was
ever ready TO accommodate an enc
my with the favOrtc resort Of those
days. Governor Cameron for n
short time, some years ago, wrote
for the why, aud, though he had
no trouble there, he had been
seriously wounded in 1869 by Judge
Robert w. Hughes, then Colonel
Hughes, Of the RjchmoRf Suite
JoWUNL. But the record OF the
wings editorial staff through the
sixty years of its history up to the
present time may not excel simi-
lar records within easy reach OF in
tcrested lnQuirers into the history
Of ducling in the South and else
where. At all events, the wing
was indisputably Tor many years "A
distinct and adequate poriralturc
Of the best Virginia political traits,
whatever the Judgment may be
upon its later course in politics
among Virginians and others OF
the present period. Should it fail
to be revived there will be cXtinc-
ton of II landmark in Virginia
politics and journalism once much
yencratcd.
nnurnuOntn asroo.or