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In the Port That Is To Be
by Sam Jack Musick
Our eager souls respond
To the visions that we see –
The future’s great Beyond
In the Port that is to be.
There, riches will not mar,
Nor gold display its power;
There, caste will not debar,
Nor cause a soul to cower.
Misfortune will not meet,
Nor will sorrow overtake;
There wrong will not defeat,
Nor will honor be the stake.
There, words we may believe –
Great Truths too firm to batter;
There tongues will not deceive,
Nor vainly praise and flatter.
There, eyes that won’t beguile
Are too tender to accuse:
And hands that won’t defile
Are too honest to abuse.
There, beauty will not fail,
And age does not grow old;
There, love will e’er prevail,
And friends are never cold.
There’ll be no pain nor sorrow,
Nor will a tear be shed –
No dreaming of tomorrow,
Nor mourning for the dead.
The light of Truth must guide you
If you this Port would win;
Whatever fate betides you,
Guard well your soul from sin.
All ill that we have spoken,
All deeds that we have done,
The hearts that we have broken,
The race that we have run;
The ship that we are sailing,
The course we take at, sea.
Will mark the port of landing
For both yourself and me.
Shall this be one of danger,
Borne on some angry wave,
Where hope is but a stranger,
Where yawns the billowy grave?
Or shall it be a haven,
A peaceful sea and shore.
Where all earth’s blessed shall anchor
And rest forevermore?
Hopeful Comrades
With this issue of The Virginian we will begin comments on amateur papers that come to our office. We take it that all amateur editors desire friendly criticism of their papers, and of course no one of us will object, to merited praise from a brother amateur. So here we go.
The Reflector, by our tireless hero, Starring of Tennessee, is a regular and much welcomed visitor to our sanctum. This little amateur is to be commended or “cussed” for being the cause of our present connection with S.A.J.A. Our first amateur article found its way into its columns and aroused in us a desire to know more of A.J. So we “jined.” Through its pages its editor has accomplished more perhaps for the present success of S. A. J. A, than any other person. It is not only enthusiastic, but it is specimen of good literature. Some of its contributors will be numbered among the Southern authors of note in the future. It deserves all that amateurs can do for it, and its editor deserves the unstinted praise of a hero. Keep pegging away, Starring, a heart is beating here amid the Cumberland filled with appreciation and comradeship for you, and hoping to be able some day to repay you for your unselfish efforts in behalf of A.J. and “yours truly.”
The Dixieite, also by Starring, adds its sweet, encouraging influence to our efforts at regular intervals.
Pearson’s Pet for May and July have been scanned eagerly. Pearson and his wife are doing splendid work for our cause, and we predict a bright future for them. The Pet is ever welcome here.
From Sunny Tennessee comes The Tennessean piloted by George Kilpatrick, and The Dixie Amateur captained by William Headrick. Welcome to our ranks, Tennesseans! You’ve caught the spirit of true amateurism and will add to our force and success. Your papers have our best wishes for a long and prosperous future. Let the good work go on in the Volunteer State.
What “air” the matter with Virginia papers and editors? Is The Virginian by itself in the Old Dominion? Shall its feeble columns shed all the rays of amateurdom from Accomac to Lee? Awake, arise, Virginians! Let us not prove to be useless to a cause we profess to cherish.
Editorial Scribblings
by Elihu J. Sutherland
Good morning! Here The Virginian comes again after a long silence, bright and hopeful and enthusiastic as ever. Although apparently negligent and uninterested, I assure all amateurs that I am as deeply interested and desirous of the success of amateurdom as any one. I am sorry that circumstances have prevented an earlier edition of The Virginian, for I had hoped to issue it regularly. But I promise if not handicapped by some uncontrollable circumstances, in the future I will give the public an issue of The Virginian as regularly as possible – perhaps as often as one every other month. With my limited means at present, I cannot make it any oftener than that, but as my opportunities increase, I will increase the number of issues each year. I hope to be able to do more for the S. A. J. A. and amateurs in general in the future.
By the time this issue reaches you the officers of the S. A. J. A. will be elected and a new year of effort, struggles and successes will have begun. To the ordinary individual the beginning of a new year means but little, but to us, in my opinion, it means much. Of course our successes are far short of some of our expectations, but we can measure our abilities and advancement by our record at the end of each year, and then fashion our plans, and even our hopes, for the dawning year by our past year’s work. A change in administration often adds interest and zest to our labors and we find our hopes mounting higher. Now is the time to make our “New Year’s” resolutions for amateurdom. Who will make the best ones and stick to them? Let’s all try it.
I hope our new officers will do their duty as ardently and hopefully as they can. Faithful, efficient, enthusiastic officers shape and control the destinies of any organization. So with our dear S. A. J. A. Let the rank and file energetically support our officers in their efforts to advance the interests of amateurs in the South. Let no defeated political ambition lead any of us to inaction or reproaches. Let no personal prejudice fall athwart the pathway of our duty. But rather, let us stand together as a band of brothers and sisters, a family of loving, helping children, “where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.”
The Virginian
An Amateur Journal.
Elihu J. Sutherland, Editor, Tiny, Virginia.
Short. Mss. on literary topics, poems and history solicited.
Address all communications to the editor.
Exchange desired with all editors.
