Correspondence of the Richmond Dispatch.
parade of Volunteers — public meeting — Blending of parties-- intense enthusiasm — raising the flag of the Confederate States--Office holders -- Hamiltonians going South, &c., &c.
Hampton, April 6th, 1861.
This has been a gala day in our village.--Three volunteer companies were on parade, the "Wythe Rifles,"Capt. Willis, the "Washington Artillery, "Capt Smith, and the "Old Dominion Dragoons," Capt. Phillips, named respectively in honor of our great county man, George Wythe; the great leader of accession in 176, George Washington, who vindicated the right of self-government by the sword; and our "good old State," who, first of the thirteen Colonies, seceded alone from a union with tyranny, on the 15th May, 1776 and who will yet establish her claim to lead the van of freedom's hosts.
Names are things, and in the above selection the careful observer will see reflected the spirit of the men who compose their ranks; and should the despot at Washington let loose his myrmidons to enslave a gallant people, be assured that they will do no dishonor to the place of their nativity, where the firstgun of the Revolution was fired.
After the parade was over, in response to a call for a meeting of the "Friends of the Southern Union," the real sovereigns of the and assembled, in large numbers, in the Court-House. The meeting was organized by calling Cary S. Jones, Esq., to the Chari, and appointing Thomas Latimer as Secretary, both Old Line Whigs, who were never known to give a Democratic vote. The Chairman, (who, by the way, was recently put down, in his absence, among a list of delegates appointed by a small gathering of "Conservatives," [?] the Saturday before, after having positively refused to preside over their meeting, having eloquently explained the object which convened the dense mass of people before him, stating that he had been a Union man until that misshapen monster who now occupies the seat once graced by a Washington, a Jefferson, and others of Virginia's sons, had intimated, en route to Washington, and boldly and unblushingly announced in his Inaugural, that bloody programme which would enslave and devastate those
"Pleiades of the Earth,"
the seven sisters of the Confederate States, a committee, consisting of prominent gentlemen of both the old dead parties, unanimously reported resolutions, which were unanimously adopted by the meeting, affirming the right and duty of the State to dissolve the unholy alliance which now binds her to a Northern Abolition Union, and declaring that, heeding alike ‘"the instincts of self-preservation, the suggestions of interest, and the demands of honor," ’ she should seek shelter beneath the Œgis of her own sovereignty, and unite her destiny with that heroic band led on by South Carolina, the Thermopylae of Freedom. During the absence of the committee, Baker P. Lee, Jr. Esq., responded to a call in his usual felicitous and eloquent manner; and when it was announced, during the progress of the meeting, that the flight had commenced at Sumter, the enthusiasm was intense and the applause deafening.As soon as the meeting adjourned, the crowd proceeded to make preparations for the erection of a secession pole and flag, the latter of which was made by the fair fingers of the fairest of Hampton's daughters. I hear that it is in contemplation to erect one on a larger scale, next Saturday, as this, gotten upon the spur of the occasion, is not commensurate with the spirit of those who had it in charge, nor of the people. Wild hurrahs and volleys of musketry greeted it, as it flung its folds to the breeze;
"And many an eye danced to see
That banner in the sky."
The welkin rang with loud calls for "Hope," "Hope," to which that sweetest of Virginia poets gracefully responded. Messrs. Tabb, Willis, and Lee, were subsequently called upon, and clothing "thoughts that breathe" in "words that burn," they pledged themselves to the work of placing the star of Virginia on its azure folds. May their efforts be successful ! For,
"Tis the Flag of the South, which shall forever remain,
To light us to Freedom and Glory again."
The guillotine has already commenced its work in the decapitation of incumbent of Federal office, and the appointment of Union (?) men to fill their places. But one vacancy existed, occasioned by the resignation of John B. Cary, Esq., as Surveyor of the Port, who, declining to retain office under a Black Republican ruler, resigned before the 4th March. It is fair to presume that those who have sought the crumbs of Federal office from Salmon P. Chase, of Wirt memory, have acted upon the principle that ‘"to the victors belong the spoils."’ But a day of reckoning will surely come, when those in Virginia who seek affiliation with the Black Republicans, and their ‘"aiders and abettors,"’ will be consigned to merited oblivion, if not obloquy. It is understood that there are other patriots who are willing to serve our masters in Washington, for a consideration.
To reconcile us to this state of things, we have been told that‘"Mas abe"’ will be ‘"conservative"’ in his administration; that he is going to evacuate Fort Sumter, (because he can't hold it any longer;) and that there has been a tremendous reaction in popular sentiment in some municipal elections in the Northern States. Among the various indications of pacific intentions, we recognize the appointment to the Premiership of that distinguished conservative, ‘"Brother Seward,"’ whose whole life, from the time of his controversy with Gov. Gilmer, in 1840, to the endorsation of the Helper Book, and his speech at St. Paul, Minnesota, has been one illustrious series of disinterested friendship and fraternal affection for the South. We see the manifestation of this same brotherly feeling in the appointment of Chas. Francis Adams and Wm. L. Dayton, both defeated candidates of the Black Republicans for the Vice-Presidency of the United States, to the most important foreign missions, those of St. James and St. Cloud. It is not less evident, in the judicious selection of that celebrated philanthropist, Joshua R. Giddings, as Consul general at the Canada terminus of the underground railroad, and of the valorous Burlingame as Minister to the Court of Victor Emanuel, to say nothing of the Red Republican, Schurz, (is that his name?) the White Republican, (I suppose we may call him,) Cassius M. Clay, and the election of that hybrid, Hannibal Hamlin, to preside over the deliberations of a body once graced by the presence of a Davis, and a Toombs, and a Benjamin, and which yet embraces among its members a Hunter and a Mason, a Clingman and a Breckinridge. Were other evidence wanting, we could find it in the recent election of a Sherman, an endorser of Helper, and a Wilmot, the original Proviso man, to seats in the same body. The pious Lovejoy and the terrible Hickman, the martyr Summer and the Natick Cobler, the yellow John Brown,(not the black) and the filial descendant of the canonized John Brown, all boast of membership in this eminently conservative and pacific Administration, of which the fugitive Lincoln is the recognized head. What a party ! Isn't it glorious to be in full fellowship with such a party, and to be called ‘"brethren"’ by such honorable specimens of dignified humanity ? Verily, they are ‘"all honorable men."’
Oh, Virginia ! Mother of Empires; how the bluch of shame tingles my cheek as I write these lines ! If you will submit to abolition rule, tear down your glorious ‘"Sic Semper Tyrannis,"’ and raze the battlements of Yorktown; let ‘"time's effacing finger"’ wipe out the record of your earlier history; let decay and ruin be written on Mount Vernon and Monticello, and desolation on the graves of your Henry and your Nelson; let your children, already ostracized from all offices of trust, except at the price of disloyalty, be banished from the homes and graves of their fathers, and then granting them some ‘"sweet oblivious antidote,"’ let them die in humiliation and obscurity, while all Yankeedom shall squat and trade upon thy lovely plains, thy quiet valleys, and thy mountain summits.
But, it cannot be--
‘ "Must we but weep o'er days more blest !
Must we but blush ! Our Fathers Bled !
Earth ! render back form out thy breast,
A remant of our Spartan dead !
Of the three hundred, grant but three,
To make a new Thermopylaeæ !"
’
Our young men are already rallying beneath that flag of which we have before spoken.--Two sons of Hampton were recently in commission at Fort Barrancas, Fla.; two have since gone to the sunny South, to seek service in the army of the Confederate States; one Lieutenant in the United States army, and one Midshipman in the navy, have resigned, to fight the battles of the ever-glorious seven, and other are preparing to imitate their noble example. It is but just to add that all of these chivalrous soldiers are former students of the Hampton Academy, and one Professor in that institution but awaits the trumpet's sound to hurry to the conflict. The above facts speak the sentiment of Elizabeth City, and if the rest of the States responds as well, Virginia will not much longer be field in inglorious vassalage to an abolition despot!
But this letter has already, I fear, exceeded proper limits, and I forbear to pursue the theme. Palmetto.
