Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1907-06-19

mental congress In your naHe,
through instructions given to your
delegates. To allay colonial jealous
les during the Revolutionary war you
generously conceded the territorial
claims Of all other colonies. To ee-
ment the states. into Union you gave
to the nation large territory, an
empire in vastness and richness,
which was yours by charter and con-
quest. 1t was you who called the
Convention which prepared the Fed
eral Constitution. To you belongs the
honor of being the first to condemn
and prohibit the Infamous slave trade.
Well can Virginia this year stand
on an eminence that ovelooks three
hundred years of endeavor and proud
ly survey the pathway she has travel
ed. In her sojourn she has met per-
lis which she has brayely overcome,
encountered misfortunes Of which she
made no complaint, prodly bore i'll
silence and finally conquered. She
has seen many wars and fierce con-
hicts involving her rights to which,
with reckless profusion she sent her
noblest sons, whose valor and military
genius have encircled her brow with
an unfading lustre. In every part
of national life and endcavor she has
furnished illustrious sons, the spen-
dors of whose fame are immortal. In
the plentitude of her prosperity and
power she generously gave to the
Union when it was weak and poor.
When in the hours of her sorrow and
distress the Union ruthlessly tore
from her one-third of her territory,
with proud disdain, but not despair,
she submitted and commenced at
once to make better and richer her
lessened domain. Sirs, the great
sculptor Michelangelo has we'll said:
"The more the marble wastes the
more the statue grows" With equal
truth it can be said, that though Vir-
ginia has been reduced in power and
territory, yet, on account of what has
been chisled away by her geenrosity
and patriotism, has been created.
figure of beauty, majecty and grand
eur surprising any mass of marble
that ever numbered mountain side.
Sirs, in conclusion, while We survey
with pride Virginia's superb past, let
us face the future with hope and con-
fidence. Never we're the skies of Vir-
vinia illumined with brighter pros
poets. Every section of the. State IS
thrilling with a marvellous industrial
development, blessed with an amazing
increase of wealth. In every dircc-
ton Virginia is making a rapid and
permanent advance. The future
beckons her to a higher, nobler des-
tiny. Chastened by misfortune, made
patient by long suffering, brave by
burdens borne and overcome, stirred
by the possibilities Of an industrial
development and wealth almost un-
speakable, cherishing to a passion the
teachings of her illustrious dead from
Washington to Lee, Virginia presents
a combination Of strength and senti-
ment destined to make her again the
wise leader in this nation of political
thought and national achievement.
Young men of Virginia, the clock Of
opportunity strikes our hour of work
and responsibility. Let us, animated
by patriotism that is national, STIR
red by the possibilities Of our state,
which point to a greater future, re-
solve to answer all demands made up
on us by our beloved State and COM
mon country, and to aid this glorius
Commonwealth and this mighty Re-
public to advance along the pathway
If justice, liberty and progress.