The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-08-31

Dccu the battle round no armies Of
destruction wou!I have marched and
cou"ter, marched through her domain.
her cities had not been bombardcd
ana burned, no Sheridan would have
Ta'ded and devastated her fertile val
Ieys, no raiders would have laid waste
her helds, her buildings and her crops
and her railroads had been preserved
and 1t is fair to presume that the gov
ernment would have made compen-
sation Tor her emancipated slaves.
indeed, 1T Is possible that there would
nave been no emaDcip ton procla-
nation at all, for that was a war meas
ure, made, according to Mr.. Lincoln,
to preserve the Union aud not, pri-
marlly, to liberate the slaves.
After the war Virginia would have
enjoyed prosperity such as her peo-
pie had never dreamed of. There had
oech no reconstruction era. From the
close OF the war there would have
/ come an industrial and commercial
boom in Virginia, such as would have
made her rich beyond computation.
AS a purely business affair, there
could have been from the start 10
sort of question as to what Virginia's
course should be, as to which side she
should take.
But we reverently and devoutly
thank Almighty God that in this
crisis Virginia was not mo, ed by the
influence of any material consideration.
We reverently and devoutly thank AL
mighty God that in Virginia there was
and is something esteemed more high
~ than riches and material prosperity.
We reverently and devoutly thank AL
mighty God that Virginians had the
grace and the courage and the right
eousEess to be governed by principle
rather than by greed, and that al
though tho State was reluctant to se.
cede, when the issue was forced upon
her, when she was compelled to de-
eide whether she would join hands
with her sister States Of the South,
IN resisting invasion, or join hands
with the States Of the North in max
Ing invasion, she hesitated not, but
chose the alternative of duty and sac
rlhoe. 1t was such sacrifice as no
State in the Union had ever been call.
ed upon to make. It was q sacrifice
not merely Of things material; it was
sacrifice of her best and noblest
men, aye and Of women.
But in spite Of these SACRIFICES,
there is no Virginian worthy of name
who would have had Virginia act
otherwise. We, as people, are
prouder Of our sacrifices, prouder Of
the heroes of the war, prouder of the
noble example which they set, than
We would be of oil the riches of Cros.
sus, obtained at the cost of oowardice.
dishonesty and disloyalty. We are
prouder Of our Confederate monu.
ment pointing as the finger of mans
devotion to heaven than we would be
Of all the high towers Of i'll gottep
gain. We reverently and devoutly
thank Almighty God that in spite Of
the temptation Of peaceful fatuess, in
spite of the terrors of war, in spite of
the knowledge that in going up to the
Jerusale Of the Southern Confederaoy
bonds and Affections awaited her, Viz.
ginia had the Cody courage to say,
None of these things move me-"
and in 30 saying and in so doing to
prevere untainted her character and
her honorable reputation as the Moth.
or Of States and Of Statesmen, whose
chasity was inviolable and who piety
was equal to every saorifioe.-Rich.