Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1903-03-06
THE GREAT SPEECH
Delivered By Hon. A. G. Braxton at
The Southern Society Banquet,
In New York City, On the Evening of
February 2lSt.

of the New York Southern Society
the'd Feb. 2lst, at the Waldorf-Astori,
hotel, in cOmmemOratiOn of the nata
day of George Washington. The gath
ering Included many distinguished
Ipublic men from all parts of the cOun
try. while the two tiers of boxes wer'
graced by handsomely gowned womeI
and their escorts. The Astor gallery
in which the banquet was held, wa'
magnificently decorated with cut flow
ers, the NATIONAL colors. and various
embiems of the Southland, Judge M
j. Keogh, of the New York Supreme
Court, responded in happy vein tt
1.-The Southerner in New Y ork, an(
Dean John Howard Van Amrine, O.
| Columbia University, to the toast
columbia University and the South. ,
Honorable Allen Caperton BraxtOn, OF
Staunton, Virginia. a prominent law
yer of the Old Dominion, made the
principal speech of the evening, re.
spending to the toast "George Wash
ington" Mr.. Braxton was given 8
cordial and enthusiastic reception, and
his address was frequently interrupted
by loud bursts of applause. His speech
was as follows:
M OAaiI Ludu, AdoiCO anu ~
One hundred and seventy one years
ago there was born, upon an old Vir-
ginia farm, remarkable man; so great
OF intellect. so true of heart, and sc
lofty of soul, was he, that, by the COM
mon voice of the American people. he
has ever since been acknowledged as
First in War, first in Peace, and first
in the hearts of his cOuntrymen.
The history of George Washington
shows that his greatness was unique,
in that it arose, not so much from in
telIectual force, as from strength of
character. Mere Intellectual prodigies
are sporadic. They often hrve no
traceable antecedents, and transmit to
posterity none of their qualities. Like
fiery meteOrs, they startle and appall
US as they shoot unheralded athwart
the gloom, only to disappear again in
to the black nothingness from whence
they sprung No one knows in what
part of the sky to look for them, and
their appearance in one quarter is no
indication that they will ever be seen
there afterwards The races that pro-
duce such geniues are often like that
spices of cactus. which exists for a
hundred years, the most useless and
unattractive of plants, accommodating
and conceallng all its energies for the
one achievement of It's life, in produc
ing, tor few days only, the glorious
blossom of the century plant, and then
dies exhausted by its single stupend-
Gus effort.
But those qualities which go to make
up what we Call "character" couarge
BUSINESS, integrity, tenacitY of purpose,
devotion to principle, fidelity, modesty,
generosity, unselfis hness, truthfulness
these are the steady bene6cent planets
in the armament of human qualities,
and in that portion of the heavens
where they are once seen, they may
confidently be looked for afterwards
these are the flags that are gathered
not of thistles, and the plant that once
produced such fruit, may always be
relied upon to produce it again.
Intellect is an individual quality,
character a racial attribute. 1t is.
therefore, no more than what might
naturally have been expected, that the
same stock from which George Wash
ington sprung, should later on pro-
duce Abaaham Lincoln and Robert E.
Lee. This was no race of Corsicans,
producing one Napoleon and expiring
in the effort, but, like the ancient RO-
mans. that bred great statesmen and
generals faster than continuous wars
could slay them, the Southern people,
as if to prove that Washington, after
all. was but a glorious type of South
ern manhood, presented also to the
| world Marshall, a } Jefferson, a Clay,
a Calhoun, Albert Sidney Johnston,
| and a Stone wall jackson. Nor are
these all Mr.. Chairman, for there are
hills beyond Pentland," and the name
of Dixie's great sons is legion. This
noble race has not degenerated. Let
| but the occasion arise. and Southern
heroes will again advance from their
obscurity to form safe bulwark for
| their country's liberties and to furnish
new inspiration for posterity. In the
South. We believe that what man has
done, man still can do;n and, to the
| Southern people, God seems particular
| ly to have addressed his promise, when
he said: "As tHy day is, SO shall thy
strength be-"
Mr.. Chairman, whoever would I'M
derstand the true character and quail
ties of Washington, must study, not
the man himself only, but the race from
which he came. That race, in all of
it's noble qualities of mind and heart,
| is the same yesterday, today and for
ever. What, then, is that race as we
| now find it? What are its ideals and
sentiments, it's hopes and aspirations,
and what have been it's struggles and
achievements in the present genera
| tiOn?
Mr.. Chairman. it is characteristic of
every people to Imagine themselves the
elect of God and l will not deny that
| the Southern people are too conserva-
tive to depart from this time honored
rule. For many years there fourished
in Richmond, Va, negro preacher
the Rev. John Jasper, an enthusiastic
divine, in whose bosom, the pride oil
race and of country, strove for ascen-
dency. While engaged one Sunday in
enlightening his dusky congregation
as to their relative status in the scale
of humanity, be told them that, while
there might be some dispute as to what
single people is entitled to pre- eminenct
among mankind, yet it is universally
conceded that the four great nations
who are God 8 own people, superior Il
all others, and destined ultimately tt
inherit the earth, are tine Huguenots
the Hottentots, the AbyssinianS, anC
the Virginians. This preacher, nee(
hardly say, was very popular in Vir
ginia. regardless of race, color, or pre-
viOus condition of servitude.
Ia good truth, Mr.. Chairman. tn,
Southern people have excellent caus
to be proud of the race from whic
they come. and well they know it; bu
it is not true. as sometimes charged b.
those who know us not, that We fee,
upon "Reminiscences and live In the past
We are indeed a conservative people
who love our homes and the tradition
of our fOrefathers, who are not entirel
iabandoned TO the manmon of mater
alism, who value men more for thei
characters than for their possessions
a people with a glorious past, of whic
We are justly proud, upon which W
love to mediate, and the memory c
which we are resolved shall never pei
ish from the earth. But let iu not b
thought that we claim any merit oul
selves because of the deeds of Onr al
cestors; for we contemplate them, an