Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-12-18
OUT OF THE DEPTHS.

We may sometimes be helped by
what others see in us, things we fail to
recognize. An Ohio man was speaking
not long ago of the South, its inmate
endurance and elasticity. 1.-The specta-
Gle of the South rising out of the ruins
of the Civil war;, said he, has been to
me a source of end ess and boundless
admiration. Ruined, crushed, stripped
as the people of that region were, left
at the close of the war with fortunes
wrecked, men slain, the hopes for
which they so bravely battled gone.
with nought but their naked hands and
the poor land to fall back on, they ex
hibited bravery which no people of
the earth ever excelled. The Civil war,
cruelas it was, failed to crush the spirit
of the Southern people, and they were
as dauntless and elastic in the face of
this, to them, new task, as they were
in the struggle with their northern foes
have no words to speak of their courage,
the indomitable energy. they possessed,
coming back to ruined firesides and
wasted fields, they set to. work to
mend broken fortunes and recoup lost
chances. None but a great hearted
people could have done what they have,
and l, though strong union man, feel
glad to say that my admiration for
them increases with my study of their
character"
Possibly we plume ourselves too much
on cur birthright and we are sometimes
ridiculed for our brag about being Vir-
ginia-born, but it helps sometimes to
recall what others say about this. or
about virginians. A graduate of West
Point military school, Vermont man
and Union soldier, was talking about
that school not long since, when he re-
marked: ''I suppose that West Point
might be taken as the representative of
the better class of the young men of
this country; those who go there are, as
rule, above the average. The Vir-
ginian was always known there as the
gentleman of the place. If there was
row. scandal, an emute-trouble
of any sort, you would know at once il
was not Virginian who was concerned
in it. He was always the clean-cu
gentleman of the place.
And another man. high up in officia
place in Washington. speaking of Vir
ginians as contrasted with those furthel
north. said: ''If were going to settl,
anywhere in the country would settl,
preferably in Maryland or Virginia
There is a downright straightforward
ness and honesty of purpose, a sincerit,
among them that have known nowher,
else in this country, and know mel
from every quarter of the land.
This is truly high praise, and possibl,
we do not fully deserve it, but tha
fact remains that many who come [,
know US feel that way about us, an,
it refreshes our hearts to hear it.
To preserve this heritage, to keel
what is of the past precious and untar
nished, should be as much the work o
the Virginian that is to come as to keel
fresh the memory of what our father
have been. There are Virginians no
few who have gone to the bad, but W,
cannot but feel that we have indeed
precious heritage and we should aim +
keepit as untarnishedas possible. Sayin,
it in all reverence, as we have in Chris
tianity Christ as our great exemplar
so we have in Lee an example almos
beatific of what Christian soldier an
patriot can be when at his best. and w
cannot TOO often study and profit by hi
mobility of character.