The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-17 00:00:00

VIRGINIA.

(From the Anglo -American 2 imes.)
It was in Virginia that the English made their
first permanent settlement in America, founding
Jamestown in 1607. The area of the Old Dominion
is 61,352 square miles ; its greatest length is east
and west, measuring on the southern line 432 miles,
but its general length is about 360, and breadth
north and south about 200 miles. The State, re-
markable for bold scenery, may be divided into
four sections-1. The Tide-water, consisting of a
low sandy plain, from 110 to 130 miles wide, inter-
spersed with marshes overgrown with pitch pine,
and very unhealthy ; the section is so called, as the
rivers are affected to its limit by the rise and fall of
the tide. 2. From the head of the Tide-water to
Llie DILA, 114,18. dtea n uz.a•vt. ,of vvuubaJh...osirn as the
Piedmont Section. At first the soil partakes of the
sandy nature of the Tide-water section, but becomes
uneven as the mountains are approached, stony, and
broken, but with rich deposits on the margins of
the rivers ; gradually the ridges of the Alleghauies
are neared, and the country becomes mountainous.
3. Between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies ex-
tends the Valley Section, consisting of long elevated
vales, with mountains running parallel, son 3 of
considerable breadth, and all of excellent land,
blessed with a delightful climate. Of these the I).:st
known is the Shenandoah Valley, the scene of some
of the most stirring evens of the great war. 4. The
Fourth Section is called the Trans-Alleghany, being
the westward slope of those mountains to the Ohio
River, now forming West Virginia. It is traversed
by several chains, chief among them the Laurel
Mountain; t fine country, adapted to the growth of
all varieties of grain, roots, tobacco, Sze., of which
much is yet covered with forests, the land being
still virgin,whikt the Tide-water and the Piedmont
Sections hive been a good deal exhausted by a
vicious sy4eiu of till t go,. In the Valley section
Indian con, tobacco, and all manner of grain are
grown, and the system of agriculture is superior to
that of the bw country, wherelndian corn, tobacco,
and cotton are raised. The wealth of 'Virginia
would llavt been shown to be greatest iu minerals
ha 1 they bten energetically worked, as was the case
in Pennsyl'ania, the natural advantages of Virginias
being ever greater. A company of Baltimore
capitalists ins purchased several thousand acres
whereon ti establish extensive iron works, em-
ploying thi Seibert process, for making steel di-
rect from ,he ore. No State can boast of richer
and more ottensive coal-fields ; from the Pal:flunky
by Ricluucad to the Appomattox, 35 miles long,
varying fora 2 to 8 in breadth, are mines of bitu-

minons coal of excellent quality, in seams 30, 40,
and even 60 feet thick. On both sides the Upper
Appomattox the same quality of coal is found, and
beyond the Alleghanies extensive deposits are asso-
ciated with beds of iron and salt. From Wheeling,
14 miles down the Ohio, there is an uninterrupted
seam upwards of 16 feet thick, which runs 16 miles
into Ohio ; another great field stretches from
Clarksburg to Pittsburg, and far beyond to the
north-east in Pennsylvania. Anthracite lies in the
valley from the Potomac to James River ; gold,
copper, iron, coal, lead, and salt are found ; springs
of petroleum occur on the Little Kanawha among
extensive coal seams, associated with salt springs.
The Mountain section abounds with sulphur and
other minerals. The rivers are numerous and use-
ful for industrial purposes. They either flow east
to the Chesapeake Bay, or west to the Ohio. The
principal is James River, which rises in the Alle-
ghany Mountains, and forcing its way through Blue
Ridge forms numerous waterfalls, till it reaches the
Tidewater at Richmond, a hundred miles from its
mouth. Its only large tributary east of the Blue Ridge
is the Appomattox, which is 7 feet deep at Peters-
burg, 12 miles from the Junction. The Rappahan-
nock also has its sources in the Blue Ridge, and
receiving the Rapidan falls over the primary ledge
at Fredericksburg and reaches Chesapeake Bay
by a long estuary, twenty-five miles below the
entranceof the Potomac. The Potomac and the Ohio
are boundary rivers separating Virginia from the
State of Maryland on the one side, and from the State
of Ohio on the other. A corner of West Virginia runs
along the 80e 30'i parallel of longitude on the Penn-
sylvania boundary; southward North Carolina and
Tennessee are on its border, Kentucky and Ohio on
the west. The Potomac rises in the Alleghanies, and
forces its way through many intermediate mountain
chains to the Piedmont district, where it is broker►
by falls 9 miles above Georgetown, adjoining Wash-
ington, at which city it reaches Tidewater. A hun-
dred miles further on it enters the Chesapeake after
a course of more than 300 miles. At its mouth its
estuary is 71 miles wide, and at Alexandria, 290
miles from the ocean, its width is 14 miles. Though
above Washington it is obstructed by falls and
rapids, up to that city ships of the line can ascend
from the sea. Alexandria is seven miles below
Washington, and once was the port of entry for the
Potomac. Formerly it was part of the District of
Columbia, as Virginia ceded a portion of territory
to form a Federal District, but it was returned
in 1846. The land there is an undulating plain,
and the town is one of the great coal ports of the
Maryland mining region, and a shipping place of
tobacco and other agricultural produce. Nine miles
below it is Mount Vernon, celebrated as Washing-
ton's residence and the site of his +omb. The two-
storeyed mansion is 96 feet long and 33 wide ; it
has a piazza in front, supported by square pillars,
floored with sandstone. The flower garden is en-
closed by a brick wall ; there are old hedges of box
planted by Washington, and a handsome serpentine
walk he laid out. The best rooms in the house are a
library 20ft. square, adjoining it the dining-room
and east parlour ; on the other side the west par-
lour and grand dining-room, 33ft. long and 25 wide,
with a handsome marble mantel-piece, a gift from
Italy. The tomb is on a gentle declivity, facing a
wooded hill, and through a grated door his ►warble sar-
cophagus, handsomely ornamented, can be seen ,while
the plainer one of his wife is on the left. Glimpses of
the river are to be caught, butonly here and there from
the house. Much further down, where the water
widely opens out, isAquia Creek. Thisistheroutege-
nerally taken to Richmond, as the railway has its
terminus there. Aquia Creek, now desolate, was a
place of great importance during the war, and even
before it. A huge wharf with some deserted-look-
ing piles alone remain, and the passengers by the
boat have to be transferred to the waiting train, when
they move slowly, by the slopes of Fredericksburg,
over a country ill-cultivated, and not marked by
beauty, though renowned for desperate struggles
and celebrated fields. More renowned still, and there
the tame scenery changes to a romantic beauty, is
the river above Washington. Harper's Ferry stands
at the confluence of the Shenandoah with the Po-
tomac, where the united streams break through the
Blue Ridge, which guards the rich vale whereof Har-
per's Ferry is the key The Winchester and Potomac
Railway unites there with the Baltimore and Ohio
line. Perhaps no name has been made better known
by the war than Harper's Ferry. It was there that
John Brown shadowed the contieg struggle, by his
mad attempt to seize the arsenal and raise the slaves
of the State, for which he paid with his life. Nor
from the beginning to the end of the contest did any
town experience a more varied fortune. At one time
held by the Federals, then by the Confederates, the
first on which fell the storm of the invasion when
the Union armies swept up the valley of the She-
nandoah, the last spot whence they retreated when
the tideof victory turned again to the Southern side.
It maybe that the most historical city of the Union
is Richmond, the objective point of the Civil War,
and the seat of the Confederate Government. It
stands on the lower falls of James River, and was a
beautiful town, surrounded by varied and interest
ing scenery. The river, which becomes more an
estuary below, is a series of rapids above the city,
supplying it with immense water power, facilitat-
ing manufactures. Vessels drawing fifteen feet can
reach within three miles, and those drawing ten can
ascend to Richmond. Several elevations are em-
braced within the city, the Stockhoe and Richmond
Hills being the chief, and on the former are built
the public edifices, the Capitol standing conspicu-
ously on it in a space of eight acres. At an angle
of that square, not far from the Capitol, is the Go-
vernor's official residence, which was occupied by
Jefferson Davis; the City Hall, and the Penitentiary
are fine buildings, but we have not now space
to describe the city. Norfolk, connected with
Richmond by rail, is the chief seaport for foreign
commerce, well placed, as it is, near the entrance
of Chesapeake Bay, some 32 miles from the Atlan-
tic, and 160 from Richmond. The Elizabeth River,
whereon it is situated, is there about a mile broal,
separating it from Portsmouth and Gosport, in
connection with which it is the most important
naval station in America. The Dismal Swamp
Canal opens a communication between Chesapeake
Bay and Albemarle Sound, and Norfolk has regu-
lar steamboat communication with Baltimore, Phi-
ladelphia, New York, and Richmond. Gosport is
the seat of the navy yard and dry dock ; it has a
fine Naval hospital, and at Norfolk there is a Mili-
tary Academy. Williamsburgh consists principally
of one street about a mile long. Across one end is
the. fpro.l...minary which was burned during the
war ; at the other end is the College of William and
Mary, also set on fire, but its walls were so thick
that they sustained little damage, and through the
exertions of Professor Ewell it has received a new
roof, and will be opened this autumn. It was built
in 1693 with bricks brought from England, and in
it Jefferson, Madison, Randolph, and other dis-
tinguished men of Virginia, were educated. It is
140 feet long by 40 in depth, with two wings 36
by 60. Most of the houses of Williamsburgh, now
dingy and dilapidated, were built of English bricks.
The Episcopal Church is very interesting from its
age and possesses the tombs of many of the nobility
and more of the members of the Colonial Govern-
ment. The College of William and Mary has a
large endowment. Farms, with fair improvements,
can be had for from $8 to $l5 an acre, but in seve-
ral hundred acre blocks. Within the town of
Williamsburgh lots of an acre each are held at
about $2OO, and houses and lots are cheap.
The climate of Virginia is varied, but while the
winters are mild the summers are liable to long
periods of drought. The first Government of
Virginia was adminis!ered by a council of seven,
from whom a president was chosen. In 1610,
however, the King sent out Lord De la Warr as
Governor, and it was after him that Delaware was
named. From the revolution of 1688 Virginia pros-
pered under a long reriod of tranquillity-, but the
State became a battle-field in the %Vat. of Inde-
pendence, and it was on the York Peninsula
that Lord Coruwallis's army surrendered, a place
afterwards celebrated for the advance of General
APClellan and the series of desperate battles which'
ended in his retreat from before Richmond. The
brunt of the war fell on this State, and nothing
could exceed the gallantry with which the Virgi-
nians met the trying circumstances. Indeed they

proved more energetic by far in war than in peace ;
for, although the Old Dominion was once the
mother of Presidents and gave birth to the father
of his country, yet the people are sadly wanting in
Yankee energy as well asin industrial arts. Perhaps
at this moment Virginia offers the finest field for
emigration in the United States, and than that we
canscarcely say more in its favour. Among its pecu-
liar attractions are, that it is the oldest of settled
States on the Atlantic, with the rich and prosperous
communities of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio
bordering it, even the Federal seat of Government
being on its river, the Potomac. It is then in the
midst of civilization, yet it offers the advantages of
a new country ; and coupled with this is an abund-
ance of labour, for although the tendency of the ne-
groes is to emigrate South, still they are too attached
to " Old Virginny," to leave so long as they can be
fully employed. General Imboden, who is now
giving lectures on the subject of emigration to Vir-
ginia, says the negroes make excellent farm hands,
and are to be hired for $lOO to $l2O a year for men ;
$5O to $6O for women, with a peck and a half of meal
and 31bs of bacon per week, and this enables even
small farmers to conatnandamplehel.p. Generally the
land is held in large tracts, by owners impoverished
through the war, and they desire to sell, say 600 out
of 1,000 acres ; thus small farms can be procured
at from $5, $lO, $l5, to $2O per acre, open, fenced,
built upon and improved, with all the advantages
of roads, mills, schools, civil and social order, a mild,
genial, and healthful climate, ample railways, canals
and river highways, ports and market towns, sur-
rounded on every hand with unused water power,
in the midst of a mineral wealth of almost unlimited
extent, with perfect social and cival order, and the
stability of an old civilization in every county.
None of the sellers intend to leave the country, but
they have too much land and cannot manage it. If
worth the while of Americans to emigrate from the
States into Virginia, the Old Dominion is certainly
worthy the attention of English and German emi-
grants. General Imboden, the Domestic State
Agent for Emigration, has his office at No. -256,
Broadway, New York, and General Tochman is
the European agent, but we regret we do not know
his address. The State will almost immediately be
reconstructed, and will thenceforth resume its place
as one of weighty importance in the affairs of the
Union.