Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1890-01-08

the Mississippi. in the church draped il
sable, and where the bereaved sit beside
the pail with hearts filled with sorron
which no outward emblems Of mourning
can express.
If we place ourselves in sympathy will
the emotions which coucentre there, an(
which radate to the wide circumference o
The most distant congregations uniting il
these obsequies then how evident it is tha
political harangnes aud discussions calculat
ed to excite sectional animosities are utter
| " inappropriate to the hour. 1t is not The
Office of the muister of religion to deal co.,
troversialy with the Irritating subjects
shich awaken party strife. 1t is his duty
and privilege 10 soften asperities, to recon
cile autagonistic elements, to plead for mu-
ual forbsarance, to urge such devotion tc
the common veal as to bring all the people,
North, South, East and West, into harmoni-
ous relations with each ether, so as to com.
bne all the resources Of the entire country
into unity of effort fol the welfare of the
whole. tfuss this will be the toae and
spirit of all the addresses made In the
churches to-day throughout the South; and
may l not hope that as there are no geogra
phicdl boundaries to the qualities rhich con-
| sfitute noble manhood, such as courage, gen.
will be many in the Northern and Western
States who will be in sympathy with the
eulogies which will be pronounced to-day
by tho speakers who hold up to view those
characteristics of their dead chieftain which
have always commanded the admiration of
right-minded and right hearted men iu all
lands and in all centuries.
The day is coming when the question will
not relate so much to the color of the uni
form, blue or gray, as to the character of
the men who wore it; when the question
will be, who we're most loyal to what they
believed to be duty, who were most daupt-
less in DANGER. who most sublime in self
sacrifice, who illustrated most splendidly
| the ideal of the patriot soldier.
Before the commencement of the strife
which ended in the dismemberment of the
Union, all men familiar with the life of Mr..
Davis, whether as cadet at West Point,
as soldier in the Mexican war, as the Gov
eruor of bis adopted State, or as member
of the Senate of the United States, agree in
regarding him as entitled to the reputation
he won as gallant officer aud a patriotic
statesman. After the organizatio of the
Southern Confederacy, whatever conflicting
views men may entertain with regard to
the righteousness of the part he took in it's
formation, or as to the wisdom of his course
as its Chief Magistrate, all alike admit the
sincerity and the courage of his convictions,
and the indomitable resolution with which
he carried out his plans, with decision
| that nothing could shake, and with devo-
tion that sought nothing for self, but every
thing for the success of the cause to which
he had consecrated his life.
This leads TO the inquiry as to the quail.
- -i,T.E.
| triot statesman, the statesmen pasded for
all time, but moro especially for our owL
day and country. The opinion has been
| recently expressed by men whose words
have great weight, that our Legislative
| bodies should be composed for the most
part of practical business men, thoroughly
| acquainted with the trede, the commerce,
ard the financial interests Of the country.
With single qualification, no one will con-
| trovert the truth of that statement, but
taken alone, it is an Imperfect enunciasion
of the requirements ofleg gisation Associat-
ed with men, DO matter how convefsant
with the commercial Interests of he coun-
Try, we need legislators who are profound
students of history, philosophy and ethics;
men who have had time and opportunities
| for thought and for the thorough investi-
CATION of the principles of government.
heard Lord Palmerston say iii the speech
he delivered at his Inauguration as Lord
Rector of tho University of Glasgow that
the difference between the statesmen of
Great Britain and France was owing to the
fact that the latter had been trained only
! in tbs exact sciences, while the former had
been drilled in metaphysics and moral phi
| losopby; and the result was that while
| French legislative assem- blies had been fill.
ed with brilliant politicians, the British
| Parliament had been graced and diXaifisd
by men of the stamp of Burke and Chatham
and Fox and Peel and Canning.
E.Who were trey wha framed the grovern.
| ment under which we live? Who wrote the
mastery state papers which excited the
wondsr and admiration of the best thinkers
of the old world? Who wrote the Declara
ton of Independence and the Constitution,
which brought into union the Independent
colonial sovereignties? Who built up oul
system of Jurisprudence. combining the
merits Of Roman civil law and Englist
common law? All of them students; mer
who, under the shade of their ancestral
trees, in the retirement of their Southern
country homes, had spent their lives in pro
found researches into the principles upor
which Just government is founded, anG
then were capable of celebrating aud bring
ing into successful operation the wises,
form of government the world ever knew
Never were statesmen of this typo so much
needed in our national councils as now.
1 Then / add, the statesman required fol
the times is one who has the courage au6
the ability to lead public opinion in ways
that are right, instead of waiting to ascer.
tain the popular drift, no matter how base,
that he may servilely follow it. Unlike the
popularity hunter, who never asks what is
Just, but what is polite, and then trims bis
sails SO as to catch every breeze of public
| favor, the upright statesman, with the deeE
conviction that nothing that is morally
wrong can be politically right, steers direct
ly for the port of duty along line in which
no DETECTION can be traced, and holds his
course in the very teeth of the gale. While
| the demsgogue dares attempt nothing, Nc
matter how noble, with might endanger
his popularity, the patriot statesman. when
assailed by obloquy, is not greatly troubled
thereby, but calmly waits for the verdict of
time, the great vindicatcr.
When the path of duty becomes the patti.
of danger, the upright statesman is not in
timidated, but remains finn as the rock in
mid-ocean, against which the Invading
waves beat ouly to be shivered into spray.
w utio LILO tIiOhy oOhoEOSuo ePOhoo oii hiS
energies In directing the tactics of a party,
the broad. minded statesman aspires to build
ND a noble commonwealth, and rises above
all that is selfish and mean, because the
ends he aims at are those of country, God,
and truth. Men Of great gifts often fail 10
public life because they lack the moral basis
on which character alone can stand. After
all, integrity is one of the strongest of living
| fol oes; and what the people seek when their
rights are imperilled il not SO much for
men of brilliant talents as for leaders whose
chief characteristics are untarnished honor,
iucorruptible honesty, and the courage to
do right at any hazard.
1t is admitted that even such men some
| times fail to secure the triumph of the
cause for which they toll and make every
sacrifice; but the very failures of such men
are noblsr than the success of the uupriDci-
pied intriguer. Reproach, persecution. mis-
representation, and poverty, have often
been the fate of those who havo suffered
the loss of all for the right aud true; but