Valley Virginian

Admiral Semmes has written a bold, manly and eloquent letter to President Johnson, demanding his rights under the parole given by Sherman, at Greensboro, N. C.

Frank, fearless and able as is this letter in all its parts, it is the concluding paragraph which will linger longest in the thoughts of most men. Right bravely and worthily does the proud old Admiral, speaking as an American citizen to the Chief Magistrate of the American Republic, say:

"We live in times of high party excitement, when men, unfortunately, are but too prone to take counsel of their passions; but passions die, and men die with them, and after death comes history. In the future, Mr. President, when America shall have a history, my record and that of a gallant Southern people will be engrafted upon and become a part of your history, the pages of which you are now acting; and the prayer of this petition is, that you will not permit the honor of the American name to be tarnished by a perfidy on those pages. In this paper I have stood strictly upon legal defenses; but should those barriers be beaten down, conscious of the rectitude of my conduct throughout a checkered and eventful career, when the commerce of half a world was at my mercy, and when the passions of men, North and South, were tossed into a whirlwind by the current of events of the most bloody and terrific war that the human race had ever seen, I shall hope to justify and defend myself against any and all charges affecting the honour and reputation of a man and a soldier. Whatever else may be said of me, I have at least brought no discredit upon the American name and character."

The following, which we take from the Jackson (Mississippi) Standard, of the 13th Jan., deserves a place in the standard books for reading for the young--aye, and for the middle aged and the old.

In the Vicksburg Herald, of the 11th inst., we find the following couplet said to be an inscription over the grave of a Confederate soldier in Alexandria cemetery:

"Unknown," is all the epitaph can tell;
If Jesus knew thee, all is well.

Those touching and simple lines are suggestive of many sorrowful reflections. They bring up from the mighty past thronging memories of the thousands of noble and ardent soldiers of the South, who went forth with flashing eyes and springing steps in defence of their native land, but who never more will return to gladden the hearts of their kindred. Some of them sealed their devotion to liberty with the blood of their young and gallant hearts. Others, toiling through the scorching rays of summer and shivering in the cold blasts of winter, without food or adequate clothing, yielding to privation and disease, and finally perished on the terrible march, in a land of strangers, with no gentle hand to alleviate the agencies of death. Others, taken captives on the red field of battle, were immured in Northern dungeons, and, like caged eagles, dropped and died.

All over this broad Southern land are hundreds and thousands of little mounds of earth, beneath which moulder the remains of our gallant defenders, with no stone or monument to designate the pale sleepers. We know they are soldiers' graves--we know nothing more. Many of the nameless dead were volunteers from other States; and in many cases the very mothers who nursed them in infancy are ignorant of their fate. Perchance, even yet, at many distant homesteads, mothers and fathers and sisters, sustained by illusive hope, peer through the gloom of twilight, trusting that they may hear returning footsteps, destined never more to be heard in the walks of men. The little hillocks which mark the resting place of the "unknown" soldiers of liberty will soon be levelled and obliterated. Over their remains the buzzing multitude will tread. The memory of themselves and their deeds of valor, and their terrible suffering and sacrifices, will fade from all minds, and oblivion will add their names to those of the innumerable multitude of Adam's sons who have thus perished and been forgotten. In the language of the epitaph which heads this article, we reverently say:

"If Jesus knew thee, all is well."

We had the pleasure of meeting two respectable gentlemen from New York, last week, who were here on a visit to see the Country and make investments if possible. They told us that the people North, who wished to settle in the Valley, were deterred from doing so, by reports of the unsettled condition of the Country, and the danger of being killed by "blood-thirsty rebels." They left convinced that these stories were all false--and expect to come back and settle in the Valley. We pronounce all such stories false. Since the soldiers have been removed from the Valley, peace and quiet have prevailed. We want the right sort of immigration and a heap of it. Our people will give to them "an old Virginia welcome," and a glance at the "Land Directory" we publish, will show settlers, from the North, the chances for fortunes, and good homes offered.

Mr. Barnett, the leader of the Stonewall Band having arrived in Staunton, it will be rapidly re-organized and by practice, raised to its old high standard. We understand that the patriotic gentlemen composing the band intend to give their first Concert in Staunton, for the purpose of raising funds to enclose our soldiers graves, outside of Thornrose Cemetery, with a neat fence and to give each grave a head board. The Stonewall band was held in high favor in the A. N. Va., and we feel confident their reputation will never diminish under their able leader, Mr. Barnett.

A letter, from a Southern lady, from Gettysburg, to the Miss. Clarion confirms our previous statements in regard to the condition of our dead there. Their graves will soon be ploughed up, and all marks of their last resting places obliterated. A place is set apart in the National Cemetery for them, and their friends can have them removed at a small expense. We have already published a list of Virginia's buried dead there, and have sent for a list of the dead from the more Southern States, which we will publish soon. Any one having friends buried there, can hear about them by writing to L. B. Waller of Staunton.

Mr. Tukey, the Assistant Superintendent of the Freedman's Bureau in this place, has been to Richmond and did not demand troops to be sent here, but only asked enough to enforce a summons if necessary. Now our people might as well look facts in the face and obey the summons of the Freedman's Court. It is folly to commence fighting after the war is over, and we are happy to state that the cordial co-operation of the civil authorities with Mr. Tukey makes it certain that no troops will be brought here. If any one refuses to recognize a summons from the Freedman's court, the civil authorities will make the arrest.

A number of Freedmen in Selma have published an appeal to their former masters, concluding in the following earnest but respectful terms:

Dear Friends and Former Masters:--We know there is a large number of widows and crippled men, who are well educated, and have no employment by which to make a living. These persons we should be pleased to see taking an interest in teaching our children and training them up in the way they should go. We are greatly in want of schools, and to persons who will establish them we will guarantee our undivided support. Our own people are the proper ones to teach us, and we sincerely wish them to do so. And why should they refuse? They raised and taught us all that we know, as carpenters, blacksmiths, stone and brick masons, painters, &c., including working on the farm, driving &c., and were not ashamed or backward in performing this service. And why should it be considered a disgrace to make a living at this business in the South? We make our living out of the people here, and, therefore, we think it our duty to spend our money with those who sustained and took care of us.

The United States Government and your State Convention gave us our freedom, and we prefer you to any other to have the money derived from our daily labor for teaching our children. If you all stand back, strangers will come in and take the money from your hands and carry it away to build up their own country. They are not ashamed to make money from any class of men.