Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER A T T, A N T A , Wednesday. July 26, 1865 NEW BATES. * 3 00 5 OJ . 2 00 laily for 3 months, t.iily for C months, . t idy for C mouths, * Single copies at tiie counter, 5 cents, vhertising, $1 00 per square of lo lines, an.l 50 cents .• ii sunsc<|UeQt insertiou. LEGAL ADTERTI8EMF.N ri». in' of Laud by Adiulnlstrators, Executeds or ii.ti.ti^, are required i>y law i 0 he held on the I m earii month, between the hours of ten in • l euooii ami three hi the afternoon, at tlie Court * m tin- oouuty in which the property b situated. \ of these s ties uiwSt be ^iveu In a public «a tt • 40 tlays previous. Notices of tiie sale of personal property must be given ilk** manner, thr^u^h a public gazette, 1U days previ- i-, to sale day. N . ic- to Debtors and Creditors of au estate, must be uldished 40 days. Notice that application will be made to the Court of ■bnary for leave to sell land must be publish .dfor two >• illtliS. • ( • at ions for letters of Administration, Guardianship, , inu t he published iJO days—for dismission from Atl* .i• 11 .At monthly six months—for dismission from .it dianship, 40 days. : :ul* for ih»! foreclosure of Mortgages must be pub- I monthly for four months—for establishing lost pa- »** * 1 ■" foil s Paee of three months—for compelling ib fnun Y. \**ruloi'*» or Administrators, where bond lias .Tii riven by the deceased, for the full space of three lonths. Publications will a ways be continued according o *1 ?t'^uiretuenta, unless otherwise ordered, whenever his property shall be pointed out tor confiscation and the* work commenced, GEORGIA, ^it will then be too late to seek pardon through the channel now open, but he must abide the result of legal investigation, and the consequences attendant thereon. A Citizen NEETENG IN MER1WETHEB CO. • For the At’anta Intelligencer. EMIGRATION—IS IT MANET ¥ It is understood that considerable num bers of our population contemplate emigra tion to Brazil. Among this number are some of our best citizens, especially ingen uous and high spirited young men. * * * If carried out to any extent, the results can but be disastrous to Georgia. . In cases in which conscience will not al- Pursuant to previous notice, the citizens ]ow a to take the amQest y oath with of Meriwether county met this day at the' iQtenlioa t0 keep it honorably, there is, in •sc, 111 III.- !’( It ATK3. yi. in’s .-'iilcs r <*r levy of ten lines or less, $ :} 00 : i, ill’s .Mortgage 11. fa. sa’es, per l-vy, 5 00 Tax Collector’s Sales, per 1 vy..... . 0 00 < iintions for letters of Administration, 8 00 Citation-. for letters of Guardianship 3 00 of a]>pllcation for dismission front Admiuis- tlon C 00 .tire oi a|>p ication for dismission from Guanli- ;ill-ll 4 00 Appliratioll to Sell littni. C 00 iVoi.ice hi Ifelttors and Creditors 8 00 8a e oi Land, per square, 50 « des ul pei : sl;aide property, 10 days, 2 00 hriray Notices, sixty days, V 4 00 Insure of Mortgage, per Square, 50 For man advertising liis wife, (in advance,) 10 00 .Marriage Notices 1 00 if'' ill pentjns writing to this Office will (drase addiess (Itctr Letters or 4’oiiiniuulcatioiif* to 44 Intelligencer, V tlanta, Ga ” July 1 Jsi65. IF Persons visiting Atlanta lrom A'pha- i-cl'u, Canton, Cunitning, Marble Works, Italia?, .i tr.pcr, Walesca, and Chappcl Hill, wil' please call for maii packages for the above named offices. jnly-13 3t To ocit Former Suuscri naiisoN 'iiiit W A A. Railroad.— We have the pleasure of timo.n r ug that the Adams Express Com- pmy have kit diy proposed to deliver our impcr at ail the stations on the line of the Mla'c Koad. We have also i ll’ecied au ar- rang ineut by which our friends at Rome, he Tiing to do so, can obtain our paper.— We hope our old friends oi Cherokee Geor gia will again send in their names. July 14.— (it VGEIYI S FOIt THE 44 INTELLIGENT' (Ell.” Messrs. John K Morgan & 3on,LaGrange; ('.J. li. B. Wilkinson, Newnan ; M. T. Walk- er, West Point ; T. M. Compton & Co., Cartersville; T. McGuire, Rome; M. P. Boaz, Calhoun ; Smith Lemon, Acworth ; ( : apt. 11. P. Farrow, Kingston; J. II. Lo ti an, Grilliu ; W. Woodi?, Madison; J. R. Davia, Covington ; W. Me. K. Walls,Frank- ini; 11. Asbury, Carrollton; J. G. McAllis- ter, U"gauvi!le ; John O. Hill, Grantville ; if. Grillith, Palmetto; Myion Ellis, Green ville, Qa.; Li. Green, Zcbulon, Qa.; Jas. D. Spence, Lawreuccville; John T. Meador, Stone Mountain ; tj. It. Nolan, McDonough; \V. F. Groves, Marietta; II. II. Swatts, Raniesville; W. D. Benlly, Cumming, O. P. Skelton, Alpharetta, and A. II. Sneed, For syth, are our authorized Agents for the Daily and Weekly Intelltgknchk. . jnlyl7-d*wtf For the Intelligencer. U iiV STAND YE ALL THE DAY IDLE f We feel very much at a loss to account i d the stoical indifference manifested by many of our citizens ill defering to avail themselves of the amnesty and pardon of- icreil them by the President. Tiie time has been fixed for the election vd delegates to a State Convention, at which time every good citizen ought to be ready to cast his vote, and aid in sending able and worthy men to represent them in a convention second to none, in importance^ which has ever assembled in this State. ii is to the excepted classes.we appeal. Ml persons owning twenty thousand dollars worth ot property, or more, are required to make application for special pardon, and i! they fail to uo so, they thereby disqualify themselves to legislate directly or indirectly foi tiie security and protection of that pro perty. • It seeing strange that men will spend a ate ot toil and hardship to accumulate pro perly, and then become so careless about its preservation. In addition to this the officers of the Federal Courts, wherever they have Peon appointed, are proceeding against the property, real and personal, of all persons included in the fourteen except- e>i classes, who are denied the benefits of general amnesty and pardon by the late proclamation. These officers are hunting tp ami identifying the property of all such persons, and collecting proof of the parti cipation of the owners in the wav. The owners'of property will perhaps re-, main ignorant of the proceedings against it until the work ot confiscation*shall be com pleted, as it is the property and not the person against whom the proceedings are had. By virtue of the subjugation and con quest of the seceded States, all the property in the same is at the mercy of the captors, and only such will be excepted among the e\ Vi,ted classes, as belongs to him who receives a pardon. These considerations ought to induce every man to be energetic m obtaining his pardon, and preparing him- ,-U to exercise the privilege of Voting, and Vi\ that means putting the- affairs of govern ment in the hands ot good and tried men. It should be borne in mind that every person who refuses to obtain pardon stands in an attitude of hostility* an# defiance to the authority of the United States, and Court House, and organized by calling Rev. T. F. Montgomery to the chair, and request ing W. A. Adams to act as secretary. By request of the chairman, the object of the meeting ,was explained by Col. H. R. Harris, and on motion of Hon. James A. Render a committee of ten. one from each district in the county, was appointed by the chair to report business for the action of the meeting, composed of John L. Dixon, John A. Simonton, R. T. C. Tucker, James Seay, James A. Render, John S. Grant, Josiah Allen, A. L. Anthony, John S. Blalock and W. A. Moncrief. Un motion, H. R.^arris and Thomas F. MfiGeliee were added to The committee. After a brief absence the committee through their chairman, Hon. James A. Render reported the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted. Whereas, The unfortunate and wasteful war, through, which we have so lately passed, and which for four long years de vastated our country, having terminated in the subversion and suspension of all civ’l rights and authority in our State ; and Whereas, We fully appreciate the fact that military lule, however well-tempered and mildly administered, is inimical to the fights of the citizen; and Whereas. It is both the interest and duty of every citizen, to aid in restoring the State to her former relations to the American Union, to return again to the welkknown paths of our fathers, and thereby hasten the period when civil law and authority shall resume their sway. Therefore, Resolved, by the citizens of Meriwether county, State of Georgia, in primary assem bly convened, That we acknowledge and submit to the Constitution of the United States as the supreme law of the land, and will obey and respect the acts of Congress and proclamations of the President, passed and issued in pursuance of said Constitution, unless declared void and of non-effect by •lie Supreme Court ot the United States. Resolved, So early as may be consistent with due consideration, that all such ordi nances should be adopted, and acts passed, as are needful to place^Georgia in precisely the same status, as one of the United States, which she sustained previous to the act of secession; adopted January 19. 1861, and for the accomplishment of so desirable an end, it is the duty of every good and loyal citizen to sacrifice his individual preferences, passions and prejudices, to labor earnestly to allay all strifes, heal *11 dissensions, re concile all differences, restore relations of amity and friendship between the people of different sections, to encourage industry, develope resources, revive legitimate trade, and thereby promote the moral, political and physical well-being of the country. Itesoksd, That the magnanimity and sa gacity displayed by President Johnson in his plain policy, and appointments so far as developed, in the reconstruction of our State Government, and especially the firm attach ment to a fundamental and long recognized principle, of Republican Government man ifested in the special reference of the great questions, which mainly affect our domestic tranquility, to the decision of the States, deserves, and hereby receives, our unquali fled approval, and we are thereby assured that bis administration of the affairs of the nation, will be characterized by “ wisdom, justice and moderation.” That whatever may be his course in the future, we shall candidly praise what we deem praiseworthy, reserving the freeman’s prerogative of pass ing impartial judgment upon every act in that spirit of independence, and yet of for bearance, which all should exercise, and when we cannot agree in the unfettered ex pression of “ freedom of thought,” to ex press our dissent and the reasons therefor. Resolved, That we deem the appointment of Hon. James Johnson, Provisional Gov ernor of Georgia, peculiarly and unexcep- tionably just. Just lo Governor Johnson who merits the honor, and just to Georgia, who well deserves to have one of her most enlightened jurists, able, faithful and hon est statesmen, to direct her helm at this critical period ot Tier history. Thanking the' President for the appointment, congrat niaiing Governor Johnson upon his acces sion to so hoaorble a position, and one in Which he may accomplish so much good for the people, hoping that ha may be enabled to assemble the wisdom, virtue and intelli gence of the State, in convention at the ear liest possible day, we hereby pledge him our zealous co-operation in the discharge of the arduous and delicate duties of his office. Resolved, That being fully satisfied of the desire of the great majority, say nine-tenths, if not ninety nine hundredths, qf our people to return to their allegiance to the Federal Government, we hereby ask of his Excel- cy, President Johnson, a general amnesty to all offenders, both civil and military, and especially to those who arc now in confine ment. Resolved, That a copy of the proceedings of this meeting be forwarded to ‘.he Sditor of the ‘%laily lntoi‘.‘genccr,” and that he be requested to publish the aattlO. On motion llin Meeting then adjourned. T. F. MONTGOMERY, ClTn. W. A. Adams, Stcrelary. July 18,1865 Beverdy Johnson has gone to RicLin mil, having been employed as counsel for a num ber of citizens whose property has been libeled for confiscation; deed, no alternative but expatriation. We cannot act against conscience; but con science is not always well informed. There is scraelimes sp^pial pleading at the bar.— Pride, revenge, false notions of honor, and a thousand other influences, often operate to warp the judgment of this inward moni-* tor. We must be sure that conscience is well informed, and affkcted by no improper bias, before we can obey her with entire safety. Before proceeding further, lest the writer should be suspected of an improper bias himself, it is proper to say that at an ad vanced age he entered the Confederate ser vice; was severely wounded ; was among the last w ho surrendered on this side of the Mississippi; waa stripped of everything, and his family left houseless. It is not likely, therefore, that there should be an improper bias on his part in favor of those who were the instruments of this suffering. Let us look coolly at the facts in the case. We had a quarrel with the North. We threw down the glove by firing on Fort Sumter. We submitted our cause to the arbitrament of the sword. We were con quered, and with what results ? As honor able men, we must do our former adversa ries the justice to say that History cmtains no record of terms so magnanimous and so liberal as those accorded to our armies upon their surrender. If we had been successful, our struggle would have been a revolution —unsuccessful, -it became a rebellion, and we were rebels. We were at the mercy of the victors. Iq anticipation of such a prob able event, did any of us dream that we should be allowed to go to our homes, even with our horses and side arms, and other private property, remain undisturbed, and be restored to all our rights arid immuuities as before the war, saving those classes ex cepted iu the President’s proclamation, with out any punishment whatever? If they had dealt with ua as our fathers dealt with those in Georgia who took up anna against the colonies, our condition would have been a terrible one. What is now required of us ? To swear that we will obey the laws and constitution of the United States, and certain proclama tions of the President. Can we not do it V The two questions which divide the North and South are finally at rest,. To enquire how this was done, is not pertinent. It is the present and future we are to consider. Is there anything in those laws and consti tution against our consciences ? There can be nothing in the proclamations as they re fer to a matter now settled. If conscience does not stand in our way, shall we allow Pride, Revenge, Humiliation or any kindred sentiments to cause us to de sert our State, in this her extremity ? Shall we leave those noble women who suffered aud dared so much, to eke out a wretched existence among strangers ? Is our beloved State to be peopled by foreigners? Will our young men, who are our only hope, for sake us ? In rebuilding the waste places; in the reconstruction of our State Govern ment; in the reorganization of our social fabric; in quelling disorders which must in evitably occur from the abolition of slavery, are we to lose their aid ? Is it manly ? la it j aat ? May it not be cowardly ? Mere physical courage is a quality so com mon among gentlemen, that it is the ex ceptional absence of it, rather than its exhi bition, which attracts attention. There is a higher and nobler courage Which is not so general. It is that courage which faces dis aster and rises above it; which encounters difficulties and overcomes them ; which, in the discharge of duty, meets privation, hu miliation, and obloquy,with calmues3 which, never whining over the melancholy past, steadily contemplates whatever may be un welcome in the future, prepare I to meet it with fortitude ; which never ilinebea from a friend iu adversity, but by participation with him, divides aud then mitigates his sor rows, and which, above all, catftes its pos sessor to cling to his native land, shaiing her sorrows and humiliations, as well as re joicing in her triumphs, and lead* him to exclaim: “My Country! God do so to me and in ire also if aught but death part thee and me.” , This is true courage. Conscience may induce us to abindoU our native land ; mor al can or may do the same thing. Let us be sure that the noble, and not the igno ble, motive actuates us. So far from abandoning home, it is now the duty of every Georgian to stand to his post. It has been predicted sneeringly by those opposed to us that many of our influ ential classes would hide their mortification in foreign lands occupied ia bewailing the past and in railing at those who have over powered uo. Let us falsify the prediction * We have fought together, we have been overwhelmed together ; let us, if need be, suffer together to the end. But no cause of suffering exists. The pol icy iudicated by President Johnson, deserves not only our acquiescence, but our cordial support. That policy is wise, magnanimous and clement It imposes no disability. It ettera no energy. We are hot gsifr fca‘ | freemen-freemen as iU ijy a» £ t .f., r8 the i ^ ar *. lasted ot dese* ang our o wn colors, let us then prepare to battle with the fa lure.— We are to have a Convention. Lit us see that it is composed of wise aud good men, and not mere politicians I That Convention will materially affect for good or evil the future fate of Georgia. Our farms are to be reclaimed, our houses to be rebuilt, our fac tories to set ia motion, our schools, colleges and churches to resume their useful duties. Our means are 'indeed limited, our difficul ties are great, but nothing is impossible to determined men. In five years, if her sons do their duty, oar beloved mother, Georgia, will show but the scars of the war on her venerated countenance. Those certainly will not aid in this pions work, who timid ly fly to a foreign land. GEORGIA. Xros Ike Ne* York Herald, 14*h. CONDITION OF THE SOUTH. A recent tour through large portions of every Southern State east of the Mississip pi has given me ample opportunity to sur vey the whole field as it looked soon af .er the smoke and din and dust of battle had cleared away. It was, indeed, a sad and sobering sight—everything witnessed during that j ourney—the aspect of the regions ot eonfl ct and the condition of the people who survive amid its ruins. THE VALLEY AT THE END OF THE WAS. Shortly before the close of the war I was up in the county of Frederick, Virginia, and the all-peivading misery of the once bloom : ing but now blighted valleys of the valley State, shocked me most thoroughly. From Winchester to Richmond, whichever route you took, there was nothing to note bat the devastating marks of war. Lines of rifle pits and intrenchments carefully or huiried- ly flung up by either army, and ghastly mounds ot inhumed slain scarred the fair face of as rich and rarely diversified a tract of country as graces the earth’s surface. Despite of the beaming beauties with which nature, through soil and season, struggled to adorn these once productive and attrac tive regions, alt was havoc and horror.— Neglected aud fenceless fields, trodden crops, dismantled homesteads, trampled flower gardens, charred ruins and all the tokens of territorial desolation were pain- iully visible cn every side. At distant in tervals aloiog the road terrified inhabitants, white and black, peered timidly out from behind temporary shelter, safely removed from the ordinary path ot marching friend or foe. The roads themselves were but gored and guttered remnants ot creditable highways. You often found them with unsightly extensions or multiplications of jagged paths, making many roads, all run ning together or zigzag, as may be needed by the ruthless claims of moving masses of warrior?, with their terrible and cumbrous ariiliery appuitenances. RAFIDITV OF WAll's RAVAGES. Though it shocked it did not surprise me to discover such universal and dismal havoc. Hardly a mile of the country between the James and the Potomac—hardly an acre between the James and the Suenandoab, and the Rappahannock and the York rivers, was exempt from the trail of carnage.— Many a little farm have I seen in bloom and promise and peace this week, which in yet another week could only be recognized by some bt>ld points in the landscape beyond the reach of description. I remember visit ing Cox’s farm, on the James, a few miles below Richmond—visiting it one fine day last fall. It was then just the spot to go to and forget that the demon of strife was breathing his pestilential breath all around. The fences were es good as- of yore; the mansion in excellent order; the grounds luxuriant; the farm fields golden, herds of browsing cattle, broods of pigs and poultry —the whole picture one of peace and plenty Presto! a change comes over the scene. The little oasis in the desert piade by war was, on a sudden, absorbed, and became a part of the black, barren waste. That was the fortune of all north oi the James ; but there it did not astonish, as the contending armies made that for years a battle ground. In the more southern por - tions of the State, however, happier and more halcyon things were looked upon as not only likely but certain. To what extent this expectation came to be realized, the observations of my tour will disclose. DEVASTATION EVERYWHERE. Beginning my journey near Lynchburg, in Campbell county, Virginia, after the sur render of Lee’s army, I tracked the self same ravagts of war at every step, and traced gloom and dismay in every face. The rugged but luxuriant district I started through" lay midway .between the James and the Roanokt rivers—one of the most “ south central” localities in the State. The scenes around were but a repetition of what I had noticed in the vailejs not lorg be fore. There was near me a hillock—it wop’ j be a considerable hill anywhere else -nut the vicinage of the Blue Mountain c" ^rfed its dimensions. I ascended it, leaef Jg the party I was with to traverse the r way to the James around its base. SUGGESTIVE ASCRIPTION. Almost on the summit of this hill was a lordly oak, whose noblest branches had felt the shock of war and fallen, lopped, to its side. Some tourist had been there lately; for the bark on the trunk was freshly cut off and an inscription carefully engraved within, in the form of a carved shield — There was a singular apposUeoe33 in-this inscription. The tree, on one side, oyer looked the James, as that river strayed down from the opening in the Blue Ridge, and, on the other side, it stood in sight of a distant and towering peak of the South Mountains. Whether the stencil which cut the characters was held by loyal or rebel band?, I do not think the text decides.— Either side may force on it a construction to suit itself, while both could agree as to its appropriateness in other respects. If I am not much mistaken it is a quotation, somewhat altered, from Coleridge’s Ode to Liberty, or “France,” as he called it him self. Here is a copy of it from the giant old oak on the crest of that Virginia hill; Fivreire me, Freedom ! O, forgive those dreams ! I hear thy voice, I hear thy loud lament, Kiom yon bleak mountain’s coolest cavern sent— I hear thy groans upon our blood-staided streams I Heroes, that for our peaceful country perished, And ye that fleeing, spot yon mountain’s snows With bleeding wounds, forgive me that I cherished One thought that ever blessed our cruel foes. To scatter rage and traitorous guilt Where Peace her jealous home had built A patriot race to disinherit Of all that made those pleasant plains so dear Anl with inexpiable spirit To taint the bloodless freedom we'd have here. Both the Roanoke and James, at eiiher side of this tree, are indeed “ blood-stained streams,” and ia the rugged defiles around the forces of Hunter and Breckinridge had many a sanguinary skirmish. FALLEN HOSPITALITY. Turning down the hill J discovered a "lit tle house nestled in a dell, over a purling stream, about two hundred yards beyonq the valley, at the loot of the hel-£t I was leaving, i went to it, and there is a lesson iu twhaA iranspir&’t distinctly in keeping With the UtuAtraiive character 1 proposed these sketches. A white lady—her bearing, and features and manners, (rather than her dress, which was scant and coarse,) declared her of the social rank usually implied by the term “la dy"—a venerable looking lady, then, and two’negresses, old and pinched, were its. occupants. As I opened the miserable wicket admitting to the weed-grown little yard around the coftag?, the old lady warned me that they had nothing for me there. Apprehending at once that she took me for one of the army stray lings or wayfarers, who, when most needing Virginia’s boasted hospitality, found it least, I replied: “Mad am, I want but a little information, and am not unwilling to pay even for that,” “Indeed ! and in what currency ?” . The drift of that question I understood instantly; but, not sure that I ought to show mj colors until I saw hers, I answered: “ I am not much burdened with either curren cy, but I nave a little of both that passes in this section.” ou have, have you ? And what may your haversack contain ? Anything one can buy she asktd, ppiatiug to my ple thoric wallet. “ Provisions for three days, madam, for self.” “Ha, and with so much good, too, I pre sume.' Are you not afeer’d to circulate around here where you’ll find fewer fed people than hungry ?'* “I am not alone, madam, and our partv is not unwilling to share with those they meet in want, although we have no com- Ron stock, each one carrying only sufficient for himself.” “And what sort of thiugs have you ?— Come onto the stoop and take a glass of good water, which is about all that Virgin ian hospitality has beeD left to offer.” I thanked her, and took a seat in the shade and a glass of delightfully cool water from A gourd, presented by one of the negresses. Then opening my wallet—a combination between a large hunting pouch and a hav ersack—requested the lady to honor me by helping herself. “No,” said she haughtily, “until I know to what side you belong. I judge from your having so many good things and mo ney it is the other.” There, I had her side at once; yet I dis trusted it, I am ashamed, to say, lor I took the flash of her bright array eye as some thing more sinister than it meant. There fore I thought fit to answer: “I am of a profession which has a shield in its pursuit for neutrality, and would be glad if you regarded me «t present as an observer belonging to neither side.” “An observer is another name for spy.— Do you wish me to regard you &% one ?” “I should even loathe the suspicion." “This side, however, would make a dif ference with me.” “I cannot see, madam, how there remains another side, since the surrender of Lee.” “You are mistaken. It may get hidden, but will never cease to exist. At all events, your answer satisfies me you are not on the right side. Beware 1 These hills have men yet, and neither Hunter nor Stoneman is near enough to protect strolling observers,” with a stress on the word. “That remark, madam, seta me free. Be pleased to read this,” and I handed her a paper which at once made us friends. Taking me as a more harmless and less objectionable person than “a spy" for either side, she consented to pick out a few bis cuits, preserved meats and pickles, in return for which she packed in my wallet some corn bread and butter. My claims were now good for information, and I urged them. THE DOUBTING LADY KNOWS NOTHING. But she was not even aware of the exist ence of the inscription above given, and therefore could not tell me who or of whose force he who carved it. Nor did she know any other name for the place than Oak Top Hill. Hunter’s force had been latest in that vicinity, and some of Early’s men a short time previously/ They were so often to and fro there of both sides that it might be one of either. HER OWN STORY. That was all with which she could gratify my curiosity, hut forthwith she plied me with grievances. She was the daughter ten derly reared, of an eminent Virginian, and the widow of a State Senator and rebel ma* jor, w r ho had been killed in 1861, at Harper’s Ferry. Her home was formerly in the valley, near Winchester—the valley alluded to in the opening of this sketch. It was no long er a home fit for any one, though it was re- piitccl oiitj or ttic Guiuiicsii vIti'a region before the war. The shanty in which she now lived had been the residence ot a confidential negro, who had charge of a tobacco growing tract of off land which be-* came hers by inheritance. Sne nought shel ter there from the horrors of tiie valley, but mended her fallen ard forlorn position to no great extent. T*, ice was see driven from her valley home, which sA length was con verted into a stable on the ground floor and a fodde’ .oft on the upper. She said she was aiffy guilty of speaking what they deemed insolence and disloyalty, and she admitted that none of the valley inhabitants fared much better at the hands of either array when military convenience or necessi* ty controlled their movements or motives. r This incident,«and what pertains to it, gives a fair representation of the greatness and the nature of the sudden social changes effected even before the war terminated. I left the old lady in kindly terms, but weep - ing bitterly as she contemplated the conse quences of Lee’s surrender, which she was most unwilling to credit. “And my poor husband died in vain !” was the buideu ot her lamentations. HUNGRY NEGRO HIGHWAYMEN. Making all haste to rejoin my comrades, and weary to resume my seat ih the saddle, which a negro attendant filled for me, I came to the forks of a road. Which way now ? The negroes were coming ftp one of the roads, and I sat patiently to wait for such instructions as they could give. On asking them for information they looked at each other, having first eyed my wallet. Unfor tunately my pistols' were in the holsters of the saddle, and I liad»o weapon but a rude looking stick. That was not enough to alarm these stalwart blacks, who said they were hungry. I gave each all I could spare; but they were not satisfied. In short, my wallet was captured without ceremony, and I found the way to my companions in light marching order, on our way to Lynchburg. CONDITION OF LVN6HBITRQ. Lynchburg has not suffered much from other than ordinary war causes, during the' contest Its houses are spared it, as the Union artillery did not go far to try of what stuff it was made. Jn that respect it is more fortunate than tattered Fredericksburg and Winchester, or all but demolished Richmond and Petersburg. At the surrender of Lee there was a large quantity of Tobacco and some cotton stored there. When the local authorities discovered that ^Grant’s army was in victorious force near rarmvihe, di rectly oa the road to Lynchburg, they tried to dc-stroy both cotton and tobacco, but did not accomplish their aim as fully as was in tended. The bank specie was. suddenly huddled off to Danville, in charge of a rebel treasury officer, as Stoneman threatened Lynchburg from the rear, and Grant’s out posts from the front One of these scares, so common in the last days of the Confedei * racy, was the result A SKEDADDLE. Aii the officials fle'd towards Danville, and the immense amount of ccfmmisary supplies hoarded at that depot were either wantonly destroyed or wastefulfv scattered among the crowd or by the crowd. Governor Billy Smith was of the first to fly, for he had taken that route—the route to Lynchburg—as his safest after the fall of Richmond. It did not prove so. The feeling in Lynchburg was less intense or excited than in the other South Virginia Lynchburg seemed ready to accept it, and sagacious enough to anticipate it. I have heard Lynchburg men of warm rebel sym pathies declare often, months prior to the fall, that it was folly to hold out further.— Many of the well to d£ young men or con- scriptable men of Lynchburg-—many more than in any other considerable city— shirked military duty. At-the outset of the war it gave freely of its beat .blood and treasure, but when the case looked hopeless, a year or so ago, it was very sparing of both. I think there is less positive poverty in Lynchourg than in any other Virginia city which remained within the rebel lines during the whole war. Yet Lynchburg is by no means free from the blight which has seized the bouth. In my opinion, however, it will be the first of the \ irginia cities to recuper-' ate. I^ss’damage, comparativeiv, was done by war’s ravages through the surrounding- country, partly from its hilly nature and partly because it -was not a point of concen trated strategy, arid infinitely less damage has been done to the city itself. The peo ple there, too, accept the result with more composure, and are in better heart and means to go on with so much of the recon struction as will pertain to themselves. Thus, while it will take Richmond and Petersburg and Fredericksburg many along year before recover from the blows that have reft them of power*knd prosperity, it will not cost Lynchburg a quarter of the time. condition of Danville. Danville may be regarded as in about as promising a plight as Lynchburg. It was, by its position and the claims of “ concen trated military statagem” elsewhere, pre served from the devastations which have ruined its sister cities. Though impovci ished, it is not helpless; though devoted to the rebellion, it is not slow iu accepting the issue as it came out. In Danville, as in Lynchburg, a great number had opportune - ties toward the fall of exchanging Contede- rate money for coin, and this they have huebanded. In Danville, as in Lynchburg, a surprising quantity of commissary stores were squandered, but more to the loss ot the rebel authorities than of the citizens, who, however unequally, had them distrib uted ‘rather than destroyed. This helped them in the first days of need. The feeling in Danville, too, is acquiescent, with some exceptions of disappointed enthusiasts and of men whose all was sunk in negroes as property, and who are in consequence now utterly deMitute. THE WHOLE STATE A WASTE. All the country parts of Virginia between the Potomac aud the Dan may be said to be waste—all the fertility of the soil fallow.— Here and there you find a h}w wheat and oat fields and a few corn fields. Here and there you find many of these, especially along -the railroad line from Richmond to Farinville, covering a track seventy miles lODgJjy thirty broad, trampled out oi prom ise, and the hoped for products sacrificed to military necessity—which iu that case means evolutions. Tho attempt at cultivation at all was on ly for subsistence. The staple crop3 of the State, although laws were passed regulating a moderate raising *of tobacco, are hardly visible. Many a noble field, far out of reach of marching armies, reposing in uuproduc- iog idleness as it lay two years ago. Either its active owcer has gone beneath the soil himself, or has grown indifferent to its care. If the capital aud labor of the State had all been drawn and kept off by some unseen hand, the effect on the lace of the country could not have been more exhaustive of fruitfulness. And, by the way. when I passed through the State, especially through its midland and Southern counties, the promise of tho fruit crop itself was o{ a mo9t encouraging order. Nature was at work, unaided in that branch of production, and bid fair to 1 CuGv» Ut- A ijr jACKijaV; i: Jl'l l 4 all other tree fruit equal to'the best she'baa yielded in more golden times. ” transportation and labor, Superadded to her other sources oi im poYerishmeut, Virginia lias to contend with a formidable obstacle to progression and industry in tbe woful condition of her means of transportation, which are scant at exor bitant rates on a people who have no means Another obstacle is-centered in the derange ments of her labor system. They who arc- in positions to know say that the govern ment ia acting wi;h skill and energy aa to both. Still it ia only right {.j state that many influential Virginians, who hold the inter ests of the State paramount to others, de clare themselves dissatisfied with the steps taken to the forwarding of either instrumsn t of industry. No other Stale iu the Smith lias so great a number of intelligent and partially educa ted negroes as Virginia; It is held that this population is anu wil' continuer an impedi ment to all equitable adjustments of labor and employment under the new order ot things, it is alao claimed that the only aaie way to remedy the evils thence flowing, and likely to accrue, is to leave the settlement oi the matter to the planter?, under such re strictions as the authorities of the State may see fit to impose. One r# the mo?t striking features in the transportation difficulties io* the fnftrmus sums asked for such wagonage or horse hire tor ordinary traffic or travel as can be furnished. This, too in the i’acc of the fact that transportation *can hardly be bad at all. Something of the same spirit is influencing the labor market wherevei- the terms are cash. The derangements iu these two essentials—transportation and labor—threaten to retard the advancement of prosperity more evtn than the scarcity of capital, and-the paraly nation of effort consequent on thq war. The thought of if pervades the inhabitants with a gloomy de spondency into which ray of hope Irons Washington alone can be flung with effecc. now THE LEADING SECESSIONISTS FEEL. Oa tho whole,-Virginia—despoiled of her prosperity, dismantled and dismayed—is" ready to resume her functions as a dutiful State. Her Wlaea and Pryors and all her ardent secessionists, if not satisfied at the result of their struggle—and; sooth to say, there is nothing else than what should, hav ing therein the fruit it has borne—are not the least eager or earn At to set the disorder to rights. Whe.h:r ii, will be proper Jr prudent to suffer thorn io co-operate until they have gone through an re peui’entiui evr. r cises than th6y have yet endured, is a question which the people ihe State dis cuss without deciding on Us wisdom or pr<> priety. They seem disposed to wait on events, and have had enough of jumping*: rash conclusions even in argument. They and the State are prostrate, ami it will be nme lime before recuperation Is comple tot ctli. iy The greatest instance of red-tape oi; record, occurred recently in the British army in India, where the entire cioUiing roll of a regiment was returned a distance of 2,000 miles, because there was a requiai tion in it for two “sergeant-major’s over all's” instead of “two overalls, sergeant- majors.” In the meantime the regiment was reduced to wearing nigs. Sy Whoever can act faith* in the precious promises contained iu the sacred volume, will find so much sweetness in it that he will have but little relish left fo; other books,