Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-04-13

ceremony will be performed in the Methodist
Church at Darksville, w. Va, the home of the
prospective bride, by Rev. w. B. Dorsey"
LARGE HEN EGG-We have been shown by
Mr.. John NJ. Hardy an egg laid by hen of
his which is very large, and weighs full
quarter of pound
Question OF Primary Postponed.
AT the meeting of the City Democratic Com
mittee last night, on motion of Hon. A. &.
Gordon, the question of deciding whether or
not a primary election should be held, was
postponed to next Tuesday night, when it will
be finally determined. At this time, it seems,
majority of the Committee are opposed to
| it.
! The Fruit Prospect ndangered.
Saturday and Sunday nights were cold, and
| the thermometer registered 81 degrees on
Sunday and Monday mornings, which was
sufficiently cold to produce frost that would
have been destructiveto the buds of frutt-trees,
had not the wind prevented the dew from
forming which otherwise would have been con-
jealed into "a ''nipping FROST which would have
destroyed to great degree, if not wholly, the
prospect of good fruit crop. Though the
wind made the weather disagreeable, it was
welcome because it saved the fruit.
The above was written on Monday when we
thought the cold spell was over, but it became
cold again that night and Tuesday morning
the mercury sank to about the freezing point,
and there was frost which, we fear, has
damaged the fruit prospect though we have
not learned that such has been the case. We
hope the buds were not sufficiently developed
to be much injured, but we have grave fears
that the peach and cherry buds have been
killed. We have been told that it showed in
Highland county on Saturday and Sunday
sufficiently to cover the ground, and that the
fruit buds have been killed.
"a HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA" Intended for Students in
Schools, Academies, Colleges, Universities,
and at home, and for General Readers. By
ROBERT REID HOwIsoN, author of A History
of Virginid and other works, and CORE
spending member of the Virginia Histori-
cal Society. Richmond, Va: Everett Wad-
dey Co., Publishers and Printers. 1892.
The points in which most school and
students histories of the United States have
the causes which brought on the war; which
the author of this work rightly calls the WAR
between the States ~ in the statement of the
events which occurred during that four years
of sanguinary strife and in the period which
Immediately succeeded, known in history as
the Ezra of Reconstruction"
The war, with the passions and prejudices
which it engendered or intensified, is, per-
haps not vet so far removed as to enable
writers on either side to write an impartial
history of its causes or of its results The
volume before us, in the main, is as free from
sectional bias as any we have seen.
The authors statement of the controversies
arising out of the slavery question; of the
compromise of 1920, known as the Missouri
compromise; of the Kansas-Nebraska bill,
and of the growth of the anti-slavery senti-
ment. is in the main, correct When he
reaches the bred Scott decision his views are
evidently biased by his preconceived opinions
as to the attitude of the Almighty toward the
questions at ISSUE The completely of some
of the most prominent public men of the
North, as accessories before the fact, in the
fanatical attempt of John Brown to bring
unon Virginia the horrors of servile insur-
rection, is clearly and distinctly shown and
explicitly condemned. The events which led
to the division of the Democratic party and
the consequent election of Mr. Lincoln to the
presidency by purely sectional vote; the
subsequent secession of the Gulf States the
seizure of the forts and arsenals within their
limits; the efforts of the border States to pre-
vent war the failure Of the peace conference;
the weak and vacillating policy of President
Buchanan; the attempt to reinforce and pro-
vision Sumter, in violation OF his agreement
with the representatives of South Carolina
the determination expressed by Mr.. Lincoln
to execute the laws IN all the States the du
plcity of Seward in the matter of the evacua-
ton and reinforcement of Sumter, and its
consequent bOmbardment and surrender to
the Confederates; the call for troops to sup
press rebellion" and the immediate secession
of the border States are accurately and clearly
told The events of the war are rapidly and
graphically sketched and to the superiority
of the South in the skill and strategy of her
generals and in the fighting qualities of her
soldiers is attributed the numerous successes
which were achieved over the splendidly
equipped armies of the North, which, first and
last, numbered two million six hundred thou
sand men, while the whole force mustered by
the COnfederates never exceeded SIX hundred
thousand. A summary of the important bat
ties of the war shows that OF two hundred and
seven the Confederates gained one hundred
and twenty-seven, the Federals seventy-four,
and six were indecisive. The assassination of
President Lincoln, and the wrongs, outrage
and misrule which were visited upon the
South under the reconstruction acts; the es-
Enlistment of negro suffrage by the Federal
government thus depriving the States OF the
right and power to regulate suffrage within
their limits, which was one of the fixed prin-
ciples of government under the original COM
pact, receive due attention and are properly
commented on.
The principal events Of every adminlstra,,
ton down to the present time are given; and
the concluding summary is brief and hope
full sketch of the present condition and future
prospects of the United States.
As whole the work is the most important
contribution which has been made to the
11I f0r4 l,n of Cnt,O lie IN,
the South, and will do much to correct the
false ideas which are daily being impressed
upon the minds Of the children in our schools
and the youths in our colleges through the
medium of Northern school histories. The
book will be sent by the publishers postpaid
had of all booksellers. Price in cloth, S1.50;
half morocco, 50.
Brain-workers, keep your heads clear and