Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1911-10-27

III CtCAy az -
have by natural and inevitaoie
mental suggestion associated
with great deeds the places wnere
these deeds were wrought
and many a place possessing
within itself and by reason OF It's
geographical or Typographical
environment no special charm
has become historic and hallowed
because of the deeds and incl
dents of which it has been the
scene, and by reason of which it
holds peculiar place IN the
minds and memories of men.
The world has been made bet
ter by the cherishing Of such
sentiment, just as it is made bet
ter by the influence of all these
things which have within them
the elements of the historic and
sacred.
The land of Palestine is ex-
ceeded in beauty by many other
lands, but through all the ages
vet to come it will be in the eyes
of men the Holy Land, because
it is a land touched by anger
footsteps and the land OF lowly
Horeb and towering Carmel, OF
Bethlehem, of Gethsemane and
OF Calvary.
The Valley of Virginia can
claim nothing of divine presence
and association, save that in all
that is heroic and unseltsh and
which is tinged and touched by
elements of service and sacrifice
for duty's sake there is the ele-
ments of sacrifcal love. Yet 1t
is a realm covered with glory as
with a garment.
Apart from all association with
the deeds which have been en-
acted there, and putting aside
for the time all consider alton of
the splendid civilization and So
cial system which reigned there,
it is a Land of rare typographical
and scenic beauty. and it is not
surprising that the pioneers who
invaded the primeval forests"
of the peninsula nearly 300 years
ago pressed forward to occupy it
in that morn of its virgin beauty.
Its towering mountains looked
down upon far-spreading valleys
of marvellous fertility, and were
dotted with forests of stately
beauty and inviting shade, and
through every vale and valley
there could be seen winding like
threads of shining silver rills and
branches and springfield streams
surging their way to sea.
A Christian civilizs ton reared
according to the highest stand
ards and illustrated in men of
courage and culture and intellect
and all the elements of manhood
in its highest Interpretation, and
in women lowered with every
social and moral virtue, grace
and steady growth Of many days
and years, and is the fruit of de-
votion to lofty ideals and stand
ards.
History attests that liberty
found her most ardent lovers
and her most valiant defenders
among those who were reared
and lived among the mountains,
and when the tocSin of war SCUM
ded in 1861 the world behe1d a
most striking confirmation of this
truth of history.
The sons of Virgins who dwelt
in the,yalley needed no second
call to arms. They heard and
responded to the first their
mother sent forth, and never
since men in the remote and misty
past first did battle did such an
army gather under battle flag as
that which. under the leadership
of Lee and Jackson, swept up
and down and over and across
that valley which slumbers in
the shadow of the Alleghenies
and the Blue Ridge, writing its
&C Movements in blood or his
OF. S pages and winning fam
as fadeless as the stars.
The peace, the happiness, the
contentment of the fairest, good
hest land that heavens suushinee'
ever kissed was rudely broken by
W ar's dread alarm, but the men
and women who dwelt there
paused not to ask the reason or
count the cost.
They heard of the tramp of
hostile and invading legions, and
there was no need of judicial con-
struction of statues or cons IL
tutions to enable them to decide
where right and duty lay.
The heart of each loving and
patriotic son Of Virginia was TIE
femple of,God's own law of self
profection and self-defense. and
tfey obeyed it and With fighting
and naarchiue and suffering and
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