--We think that a very honest pride in
Virginia may be gratified by the perusal of such sentiments as these from our sister States.
The people of the old State
have suffered more than their countrymen can ever know, until, in the progress of war, they are called upon to endure the same horrors.
The extract is from the
Montgomery (Ala.) Mail:
We are once more in regular communication with the glorious Old Dommion — the mother of States and statesmen!
And never was she more worthy of glory and honor than at this time.
In defiance of the gigantic efforts of the
North, in defiance of the greatest array of force and military engines which ever threatened a city,
Richmond still stands secure.
The noble army of patriots and heroes who for years have stood like the flaming sword of the Cherubim which guarded the garden of
Eden, turning to face the foe from whatever quarter he might come, still stand erect, with bosoms bared and head upraised, ready to hurt back the proud invader or crush him beneath their righteous vengeance.
Glorious Old Virginia ! How proudly our heart throbs as we look over the record of her firmness — her more than Spartan devotion to liberty and independence.
And how sadly do we call to mind her desolated homes, her oppressed and suffering people.
The long, long range of her fertile lands, now bleak and barren wastes, with naught remaining but the charred and blackened remains of what were once the happy homes of her noble sons and accomplished daughters.
We have passed through the beautiful
valley of the Shenandoah; we have traversed her roads from
Harper's Ferry to
Richmond.
Everywhere we have seen the footsteps of the vandal foe. But everywhere we have found, in the midst of ruin and devastation, the spirit unbroken and the determination to be free unchanged.
May we not repeat the expression, glorious old
Virginia ! may thy future reward be commensurate with thy sufferings and thy heroism ! And shall we not hope that the illustrious example of our older sister will inspire the people of the other
Confederate States to follow her example, and tread in the same brilliant pathway of heroic suffering and glory.
This is the time to try our souls!
May the trial show to the world that we too can suffer and toll bravely for the priceless boon of liberty.
May it prove that we are not unworthy to share in the glory that clusters so brightly around the brows of our sister Virginia.
