Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1904-02-26

of human history,-the work OF tt
great Constitutional Convention of Il
at Williamsburg,-it is provided tina
1.-The Governor, with the advice
the Privy Council, shall appoint ju
tices of the peace for the countries; an
in case of vacancies, or necessity ,
increasing the number hereafter, sue
appointments to be made upon the r.
commendation of the respective CouI
ty COurts.' In the Constitution
1879 30, made by bodo of men no les
great and DISTINGUISHED than thei
predecessors OF 1776, it is provide
that 1.-The judicial power shall be vest
ed in Supreme Court of Appeals, il
such superior courts as the legislator
may from time to time ordain an
establish, and the judges thereof, j
the County Courts, and the justices o
the peace In the Constitution o
1850 the County Court is expressly pre-
servee, as in that of 1S67-S, though il
the latter it's form was changed by th'
substitution of the Judge for the bencl
of magistrates.
Throughout its history. the County
Court has been essentially the Court
of the people. Up to 1868 it was con.
stituted from the ranks of the people;
for its magistrates were every day
citizens of practical business affairs,
approved of their neighbors, and pos
sessing the saving grace of common
serse, who though unversed in the
technicalities of the law, administered
justice with uprightness and judgment
and to the satisfaction of their COM
munities, while the judges who subse-
quently succeeded them were general
ly the choice of the people over whom
they presided, and were chosn by them
through their representatives in the
General Assembly.
But if the constitution, the jurisdic
tion in civil and criminal matters, and
the pers0nel of the County Courts
brought them near to the people, yet
more popular, in the primary sense of
the word, were they in the social and
educational opportunities which they
afforded. 1t may be truthfully said
that for more than two hundred years
there was no agency so potential in
the development of the social life, or
IN the education of the masses of the
as was the institution of
The County Court. If neither the
Colony or the Commonwealth possess.
ed the boasted New England town
meeting, each, as has been said by a
recent writer, "had it's familiar court
1ay-a holiday for all the County, es-
pecially in the fall and spring. From
all directions, came in the people on
in wagons and afoot. On
The court house green assembled, in
ndiscriminate confusion, people of all
,lasses-the hunter from the back
woods, the owner of few acres, the
grand proprietor. and the grining
needless neogo. Old debts were set.
led and new ones made; there were
AUCTIONS, transfers of property and if
election times were near, stump
speaking"
For nearly hundred years before
the Declaration of independence, mat.
5ers of general concern were discussed
On County Court days, from the bust
ngs to the Virginia audiences by those
who were competent to deal with
them, and thenceforward down to the
lark days Of the war between the
States, the greatest political philoso-
)hers and statesmen that the world
1as eyer sean made the policies of gov
,rnment and the duties of citizenship
.amiliar to the mouths of their hear
RS on the court greens of the Com
nonwealth as household words.
Time would fall me and your patti.
,nce would be exhausted were 1 to un-
1ertake the recital in detail of all the
Influences of the County Court system
lpon the body of the people. Suffice
t to say that in addition to it's pur-
,oses, as constitutional, it was from
he first a great democratic institution,
where a man was brought in contact
with his fellow man and learned to
know him at his worth; and that it
was likewise from the first a great ed
ucatiOnal institution that made vain
Sir William Berkeley's jeering mes
sage to the power at home in Eng
land, that he thanked God that ther e
was not a printing press nor free
school in the Colony of Virginia
The occasion which it afforded of the
gathering of the people illustrated
perhaps more frequently than any
other occasions in our history the
birth of great events; for on the Coun-
ty Court days of the Old Dominion
the fires of the Revolution were kim
died; and there were nearly a hundred
years afterwards the voice of an in
vaded people invoked Freedom that
they later failed to find.
Looking back over the past history
of the County Courts of this Common
wealth, and more especially over the
recent quarter Of century in which
l have been more or less identified
with this County Court of Augusta, l
confess to feeling of unalloyed re-
gret at seeing pass away an institution
that was so ancient, so honorable and
so significant in the life of the people
of Virginia, and of this old County.
Mysterious Circumstance.
One was pale and sallow and the
other fresh and rosy. Whence the diff
ference? She who is blushing with