Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-12-03

DOtD. tneff CNhreCtcfS were tne Sdilic'
proud. self-contained. brave. generous
tender when undisturl~i fierce when
aroused. loving Virginia idoIatrously. and
knowing little OF and caring less for
what was outside OF her, his chief glory
was that he was a VIrginian. Money
made no difference 20 them or in them.
THE WAR.
The outer world has never appreciated
the spirit In which the South went to
war Il was like coniagration After
10 started, the people outstripped the lead
ers. Gray-headed men who bad been the
| stanchest maintainers OF the Union en-
listed and marched 20 the Peninsula
| under Magrudcr or 20 Manassas under
Bosuregard. Boys ray away from nome
10 Join the army: women cut up their
! gowns 20 make flags and their under
| clothes for lint and bandages.
The slavery question, which had been
prominent In the previous agitation now
| fused In the furnace. passed completely
out Of sight and the battie-cry was the
Invasion Of the South With this the en-
tire population OF old Virginia rallied "a
| the standard as one man.
u was I'm this period. and that more
! terrible one which followed II. that the
people Of Virginia showed their character
| They accepted victory and defeat with
! equal cOnstancy. No success elated them
unduly No disaster cast them down.
| Their zeal never tagged. their enthusiasm
never waVered. The cxactioas Of war
slapped their strength and enRulfed their
property. There were not men enough
| left at home TO bury the dead. and women
not lnfrequcntly had TO perform the last
sad sacred Offices Rich women sent their
sons 20 fight gave up their jewels 10 help
the cause. or sold their lands to reinvest
| IN Confederate bonds. or gunbOat-stock
! Poor women wrote TO their husbands
that they were starving, but 70 stand to
their duty. This was the spirit all the
way through. They never doubted. never
tagged. He would have been rash who
would have dared 10 hint OF making
peace on any terms less honorable than
complete separation. The failure Of the
Hampton Roads conference was based
on the universal sentiment Of the people
When Lee surrendered at AppomattOX
tho war ended. -
DIER-FARMERS.
The soldiers returning from the army
found Virginia almost as war-worn a
th1y We're themselves In many sections
he country was swept clean and the dis
organization of labor and the depletion
81 teams had prevented the proper prepa-
ration Of a crop The horses which the
soldiers had brought home from Apo
mattox were not infrequently the chief
dependence for n new crop. and before
the huzzas over the returning armies OF
the Union had died away In the North
the soldiers Of the other army which had
held them at bay 50 long were working
In the fields. trying to build up again the
waste places OF their States. There Is
scarcely a professional man over the age
OF 80 to-day who did not work at the
pillow during those first years after the
war
For a time there was a condition which
was peculiar The old life survived for
period I'm "A sort OF after-gloW. the peo-
pie thought they could reconstruct the
shattered fragments and live II over
They undertook to reOrganze their gov
crnmenjs and their life The one was as
vain as the other but at least the dignity
and courage with which they set about II
call forth unqualified admiration.
For a time, under the reaction result
ing from the wear and tear Of war the
spirit rebounded. After the fatigue OF
war even the meanest home was com
fort. and the life was almost gay, even
amid the ruins. They had been over
Whelmcd, not whipped and the indomi-
table spirit survived. So the young sol
diers patched up the broken farm i'm
plements hitChed up their thin army
horses. and worked at their crops. They
worked like laborers. but they We're not
laborers. They kept ever in view the
fact that they were more than plough.
| IL
almost as soon as the war closed. and col
leges opened with fees fixed at the lowest
possible sum. and board provided at the
lowest possible figure. Young men poured
In when they were too poor 10 pay even
that, and had 10 mess as they had done In
the army. They went 10 town and took
positions as watchmen, brakemen. street
car drivers, fOremen In factoties, any
thing that would enable them to supper
themselves and those dependent on them
and would aid them In educating them
selves. There was no feeling Of indignity
no repininR. A man who had hltcheC
the horses TO a gun under fire and brOugh
IL of under storm of shot and shell
could drive a street-Car without chagrin
He had expected TO be brigadier-gener
then; now he expected TO be some da!
president of the line.
q
commonly supposed 10 be the proudest II
the land engaging In the work Of laborer
and losing no caste by IL.
The girls were not less brave than III
men. They accepted and married then
without a dollar, and. with a sublime fait
| in their lovers which was happy augur.
| Of the future, went with them TO live II
the old broken farm houses. or IN uppe
stories in town, planted flowers, hun
| 4 Il. a
homes fragrant with sweetness and con
| tent.
RECONSTRUCTION.
Then came the reconstruction period
The six years Of carpet-bag rul
were the worst that the South has eve
| known. 1t is the writer's belief that tn
southern States We're poorer when the
! ended than when the war closed.
| There life stll Is based on the old foun
! dations OF purity and peace; preserves
! from the materialism OF the present,
| stll keeps the simplicity of the past
| Hospitality and the domestic virtues we
| survive, and Notwithstanding som
| changes. the old standards of gentilit,
and righteousness Of life stu stand On
! may drive through the country, from on
! end OF Virginia TO the other, and neve
pay cent and If he were 10 stall 0
| break down in the road. there Is not
| virginia farmer who would not cheer
| fully turn out of his bed to help pull hin
| out ON one Of the old plantations that
! know lady told her son but the othe
/ day that he must get her some NOR
| knives, as she had only twenty an
when she had more than twenty peopl
! in the house she had to borrow some.
CHANGED CONDITIONS,
The conditions have Of late been chang
ing. Virginia. instead Of being, as III
! cant phrase went, "a good country [
| come from" has become a good countr
to come 10. Her advantages OF Location
and climate have ever been recognize
! and of late other advantages also hav
| been discovered. Her transportation facil
tiles have been steadily improving, he
! mineral resources have attracted the al
| tention OF capital, and. being examined
have been found 10 be wonderful bot
| in quantity and quality. Her coal pro
| ducga tho highest opepl an the ocean