The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-04-09

doup IN nurely merchantable work. or
is II simply tina he has yet 10 learn III
| greater coll eye than that othe-' trat !.
worthy people OF Virginia are not at all
I'm one family. or two?
II General Lee certainly hrst Glass;
could nave been mean enough 70 tnihh
Of the mass Of his army as MT. Ihomas
Nelson Page expresses him Stlt cohcerhIhs
them. and. IL by any possibility, his army
| couId have found 1t out, the seven days
battles around Richmond, Second Ma
nassas. fredericksburg. Chancellorsville,
sharpsburg and Gettysburg would never
have been fought. and the middle class
ard the poor white trash" who made
his army, would have seen even him,
their idol, in perdition before they would
have followed MIN a mile. But General
Lee could not be what he was and think
that way.
Certainly this so-called middle class"
so fippantly disposed Of In a paragraph,
need a more faithf i and friendly biogra-
pher. They were the state" before the
war, they carried the burdens, and fur
nished the blood and much Of the brains
for the war, making every battle illus
trious by their valor; they were The men
on whom Lee leaned and in whom he
trusted with mistaken confidence. saying
at the end TO them that he surrendered.
but from no distrust Of them Jack son,
a poor white man." leading poor white
trash and half strainers." rarely failed
to whip the people who buy Mr.. Pages
amusing stories.
Lee and Jackson relied upon them at
| Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill. FraZier's
Farm. Cold Harbor and Malvern Hill;
1T Fredericksburg. Charlottesville. Sec
ond Manassas and Gettysburg. This same
people have endured persecution bravely
for more than twenty-five years since the
war. and resisting every tempting reward
for desertion, have been true to Virginia
and to the South and their principles.
They have not in all that time been
bought. frightened or fattered into sub
mission, and they have stood an immov-
able bulwark between their people and
their peoples enemies. Nov and then
one Of them rises" More than one OF
them has become a Governor Of n State,
or a Senator Of the United States "Un-
der new conditions they are rising and
improving" Perhaps because "nelrly all"
the really frst-class people. of Hanover
particularly. are gonei
After all. however. Mr.. Page started
out TO talk about one neighborhood In
one county-his county and neighborhoOd.
II Is possible also that one who was "a
mere child" does not know as much
about the old times he describes as he inn
AGNES he does. Certainly people who
were older then and have since written
and talked did not get into them as
much contempt for everybody but "Our
fOlks"-unless. perhaps. the old negroes
did. and frequently their admiration for
old master and young master led them
into e%xtravagant ideas Of the littleness
Of everybody else, which were not shared
by the masters.
Eipa1fxr. The noor1o nh ~.o~. -
and the people who were not. are. Thu
valuable men OF to-day and the men who
rule Virginia and the country belong to
what was the Half Strainers" and the
Poor White Trash and the most hope
less. helpless. useless man in the country
is the fellow who is always whining about
his family" and his connections. and
regretting that he cannot any longer strut
In conceited ignorance. insolence and idle
ness at the expense of somebody else's
sense and toll. These came from high
ancestors, but that is about the last
creditable thing that they have done.
While the friends and admirers Of
Uncle Toms Cabin and the more recent
products Of The Literary Syndicate"
sound the praises and exalt the virtues
Of the emancipated poor white mans
negro" embalming him in prose and
poetry and carefully providing for the
w - VI AAD AbAA dAlA =
US courageously defend and vindicate our
true friend and brother and gallant ,.om-
rade. the poor white man." and let us.
as we have opportunity. mail" the
ISLANDERS which so freely grow and are
50 greedily gathered. They do not need
aims, Liberty is life and immortality
for them!
Since I am now engaged" I propose TO
bring on a general engagement. and,
with VOlIF narmigCiOn in a future article
TO show the peculiar bent of this author
as It is developed in his address before
the Virginia Historical Society (Which.
strangely enough. the society has not
dared to print). in the volume Of stories
entitled. In ole Virginia. in the little
book ION Newfound River" in Before
the War" and in 1.-TWO Little Confed-
crates" and. If I can secure a, copy of
II. l think probably his notice Of General
Wickham. published in a Richmond
paper, needs attention.
A general examination Of the works Of
this writer is demanded not only in behalf
Of that particular class which I have
herein attempted to defend, but also I'm
order that his false presentations Of
the life and character Of the gentle
folk" may be exposed. and that the out
side world may be guarded against ac-
%ceptance Of these pictures as truthful
delineations OF 'Nirginia" by a "Vir-
g%inian." 1t is always extremely difficult
10 portray in worthy colOrs the true
greatness Of a great psOple. and IL is
too frequently the case that the cham
pion OF a people fails ANONYMOUSLY to
appreciate and to present I'm the best
light even those whom he sincerely adj
mires. II is indeed an artist who can
accomplish this great undertaking. while
the rudest hand can with ease disfgure
that which is grandest. and with n sin
gle dash annihilate the humber virtues
which he essays 10 patroniZe. to pity, or
to dispise.
close reluctantly. being full Of this i'm
portant subject. but court the patience OF
the reader, while / simply mention thr,e
OF the men who came out mysteriously
from the despised poor white people"
OF Virginia long ago: Patrick Henry.
Henry Clay and Stonewall Jackson.
| leave this picture to ep age the Il en-
ton OF the reader until. by the courtesy
Of The Times. 1 am allowed to resume
this subject. At Bermuda Hundreds
(where Beaureguard said, If this is a
skirmish, deliver me from a hattle') a
poor boy. the son Of an overseer. whose
chest was shattered and perforated by a
canister shot, was being borne from the
field in a dying condition by his comrades.
AS the line OF battle swept by him. the
boy. who was to be "A corpse In fifteen
minutes, raised his dying head and said:
Go on. BOYS Give It 70 EN-! And tell
mother | died for my country"
CARLTON MCCARTHY.
Richmond, Va, April 9. 1898.
CoIoneI L.. j, Alfred Writes: