Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1898-02-08
NEW SERIES, VOL. xxxIII, NO. 6.

banquet, he encountered on his way t
the feast beggar who asked him for S
few pennies and told him he was very
hungry. The Mayors guest told him he
was lucky dog. He wished he wa.
hungry. Mr.. Rouss upon that occasion
was not in the condition of the Lort
Mayors guest. Those who see him eat
and drink SO sparingly now, would have
been startled to see the courses" disap-
pear before him like snow before July
sun that day down in old Virginia, when
we had been alternately chasing the
Yankees and being chased by them. ]
have frequently banquetted with Mr.
Rouss and the Charles Town Society. and
have dined with him at the sumptous ta.
BILE of his Fifth Avenue home, but have
never seen him eat as he did that day,
with the people who marched aud coun-
termarched and fought and charged and
fed aud pursued through the Valley of
Virginia. In those old days, my friends,
l tell you there was no scarcity of appe.
tite.
But that was good dinner and I re.
member it with pride. Mr.. Rouss' mess
was better for fighting than for foraging,
and saw that they were on the verge of
starvation. Our mess, which contained
some of the best foragers in the army, got
up the feast. The first course of the din
dinner was soup. 1t was not exactly
convenient to get blue points, and we
had no terrapin. But such soup you
never tasted. 1t was made by boiling
some rare old salt beef, such as we some
times had in the army, in delicious river
water, and we thickened it with corn
meal. We had no pepper for seasoning
and salt was not required. Then follow
ed the main body of the feast. It was the
beef which had been used to make the
soup. The remaining courses were old
man Hoffmaster's slap jacks" The
flour was mixed with water and some salt
added. This was the receipt by which
this delicacy was made. Some of you
may think this was simple meal, but
we regarded it as banquet, and Mr..
Rouss was pleased to say that it saved
his life. He has never forgotten it, and
and he has not permitted me to forget it.
either. There is something else which
Mr.. Rouss has not forgotten. He has
not forgotten the town of Winchester.
where his great business career began,
and which has profited by his benefac
tions; he has not forgotten dear old
Charles Town, nor his old comrades by
whose side he fought in the days of civil
strife. He has cared for the last resting
place of those whose "swords are rust and
whose bones are dust" and many liv-
ing, struggling man has felt the support
of his strong helping hand.
Along with the opportunities which
are presented to YOU here in this great
city, gentlemen of the Charles Town So
ciety, there are evils around you more
deadly than the ''pestilence which walk
eth in darkness, or the arrow which flyeth
at MONDAY" You are amidst many and
great temptations and your feet are set in
slippery places. But you have one tails
man which alone should be sufficient to
guard you. 1t is the thought of the
mother in the old home; or it may be,
in the case of some of you, her sainted
memory. You came here with the smell
of the apple blossoms in your hair and
the religion of the family Bible in your
heart. Never depart from the teaching
you got at the mothers knee and keep
your heart pure, for out of it are the issues
of life and death. know that there are
prayers going up like incense from pure
hearts down at the old home. Do moth
ing which would bring the blush of
shame to the brow of those loved ones.
When old King Ulysses, with the rem
nant of his warriors were on their weary
way from Troy, battling with adverse
winds and all sorts of strange and cruel
enemies, they came upon a land where
the people gave them food which caused
them to forget their native land, their
friends and home.
This is no such feast. We meet here
as Virginians, and our minds aud hearts
naturally turn with love and enduring
affection to the land which gave us birth,