New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-03
VIRGINIA ELOOUENCE.

The new Governor Of Virginia enters tho lists.
Tn his inaugural message delivered on Monday
he paid one Of those eloquent tributes TO the
State which have come to be considered IN re-
cent years the most efficient nstrlmentalty III
building I'D n commonwealth, promoting the
general welfare, and making communities pros
porous and all well-dsposed citizens happy. 1t is
q blessed dispensatiOn of Providence that in
times like these, when so many people have
nothing to do and very little 10 eat orators
spring up in all the waste places who can fill
the stomachs of the hungry and solace the dis
tresses of the poor with the Kourishing and
comforting strains Of pure and unadultcratcd
eloquence There has been much suffering all
over the country for the last eight months, but
no one knows the extent to which 1t has been
relieved and mitgated by the earnest, and we
might almost say impassioned, efforts Of the
Governors Of several States, whose names will
at once occur to the readers Of The Tribune, to
assuage the general distress by generous out
pouring Of language.
The citizens Of Virginia, who have seen whole
communities In other States irrigated, fructificd
and made to burst into blooming prosperity by
the eloquent discourses which their statesmen
have poured into and over them, were no doubt
made glad at finding on Monday that they too
had Governor as gifted as any Of them. Gov
crnor OFerra in his inaugural impaired a
thrill Of pride to every Virginia bosom by the
following tribute to the State:
She has swerved from the lighted way of
the Constitution: the song Of the siren has never
tempted her; the tongue of hattery has never Sc
duced her; the voice Of the hyena has never fright
ened her; the menace of tyranny has never terri
fled her; the howngs Of the wolf have never dis
turbed her; the threats Of malice have never
alarmed her. Firm and inlmovable she has stood in
all the years that have run their circles since she
gave her pledge to be true to the fundamental law
of this land.
1t may be that this tribute will not bear close
analysis, but for that matter really eloquent
language seldom does 1t may be incxact, but
who shall say it is not werdly beautiful? Not
merely beautiful, but copious and soul-satlsfy-
ing. And it may be, too, that what seem like
historic inaccuracies are really corrections of
current impressions concerning the events OF
the last thrty-three years For instance, there
has been a prevalent notion that Virginia
swerved just trihe from the lighted way Of
the Constitution in 1861, but il may after all,
be erroneous. Possibly the States that remained
in the Union swerved. maybe the light went
ont, or the Constitution itself wobbled a little.
Then as TO the song Of the siren, which never
tempted her. and the tongue of flattcry that
never seduced her. This, we presume, refers
indirectly to the removal Of the Confederate
capital from ontgomery to Richmond in 1861,
which was said at the time to have been done
with view of scduclng Virginia into the Con-
federacy. That, then, mistake. At any
rate it not the song of siren that tempt
ed her. The act of the Confederate Congress
on that subject was not set TO music. The
reference 10 the voice of the hycna which
never frightened her, and the howlngs of the
wolf that never disturbed her. we understand
to be purely metaphorical The carping critic
may say that IL would have added dircctncss
and force TO the period If the Governor had
mentioned the hyena by name, or given de-
scriptlve detail or two by which we might
recognize the wolf. But is it not apparent TO
any one who appreciates coquence that 1t
would have let down the entire paragraph to
the dead level Of commonplace narrative prose?
AS it stands 1t is unuttcraby beautiful. One
Of those things that Patrick Henry was never
equal to in his best days. and which would
have driven William Writ to drink from sheer
envy.
1t was powerful tribute The firmncss and
immovableness with which Virginia has stood
in all the years that have run their circles since
she gave her pledge to be true TO the frnda-
mental law of this land " deserve it. There
were, to be sure. four or five ycars-but why
refer to thcm?-they were years in which The
Democrats were out Of power. and consequent
" do not count. The fundamental law Of this
land, rs everybody in Virginia knows. is that
It shall be governed by the Democratic party.
To that law she gave her pledge and has stood
Arm and immovabc. Vlrginians have reason to
be proud of Governor who in the matter Of
eloqucnce lives up so well with the other Gov
errors that have done SO much for humanity
during the last year with their mouths.