Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1854-02-14
Virginia Monuments.

(williamsburg) Gazette brings up another bu
kindred subject. fraught and redolent with min
gled sentiments of gratitude pride and regret
After some appropriate predatory remarks, i
says;
These reflections have been suggested 10 oul
mind by reading the following resolution. adopt.
ed by the Continental Congress in lei. on hear
ing of the surrender Of Lord CORVALLIS.
Resolved, That marble column shall be erect
ed at Yorktowd, with emblems OF the alliance
between the United States and his most hri stan
majesty. and inscribed with a suitable narrative
of the surrender Of Gen. CORVALLIS"
Had such resolution concerned monument,
to be erected in New England the halls Of Con
gress would have been beseiged, session after
session, and the patriotic sympathies Of the na-
ton appealed tn, year after year, until some
monument Of public gratitude bad been erected
on that spot, which may justly be styled the
grave Of royalty. and which Witnessed the crown
ing triumph Of our Revolutionary struggle.
A great and magnanimous nation came 70 our
rescue in the hour Of greatest Peril-nor ceased
TO battle for rights till the proud ensign If
England had traled it, defeat and Disgrace on
the plains Of York Town. and the naughty mon
arch Of snyaf Britain had subscribed Nth his
own hand. the acknowledgement q our in5epend-
enee. In this conflict the most gallant armies
Al Savannah sna York Town aud tbs met lsBs-
erfui aBd bet appointed naval force that exer
issued from her harlsirs va oFezzHala aed and
annikil4ied ~ Rodney IN the Gulf Il Netico.
Al thess sacFIfaee=- n cause. Wsve l-erne By
France Egfhoat q Hssrmgr and ~ raegfnfzsaee
has beea made her. No marble column pre-
serves the vecera. and hands dgwn - gzsstef5iY
ths rnsDory 4 tits alliance, 10 craven bras.
nps msszan-utal pale marks single battle u.
Ebers ber seas~ slain "a dffene. lie mingled
WITH car sol IhDagh grateful sense i their
= int Arr..rsa-n Esar4
devotion tia; wIu survive the warriof. and the
granite recoF6 u his oeed-. yet wisdom and j4s-
tee silks aezIad ssfne striking manifestation 4
the nations grStlt33e u cnkIdis the flame #
patriotic ardosr IN and present to tie
people Of foreign state~ who NAV visit tire banks
of York Riser.to participate IN the riches cro~d-
ed there By the railways % Virginia and the
West. practical refutation Of the reproaeh
which tyrsnts delight to utter against ~, that
Republics are uDgrsatful.'"
On an eninence. just outside the western lin
its Of the corporation Of fredericksburg, stands
a half finished monument, which was begun more
than twenty years ago, in honor of ''the mother
of Washington" No enclosure (the last time
we visited the spot.) protected it from the van
dahsm OF school-boys, and heathensh men. who
combined with school-boy's disposition to do
mischief greater capacity to do it. The once
polished surfaces of the marbles which were in
place were carved full of names and ungainly
hieroglyphios, and blackened with pencil marks
or bruised with pistol shots. BY the side of the
half completed structure, lay a block of marble.
in the condition in which it left the quarry. aud
in the position which ii had occupied for several
years. 1t was intended to be polished into a
shape to surmount the whole-but no hand had
been upon it for years, except for harm.
In the Capitol Square in Richmond, is the
Washington monument, to which the Legislature
has been voting appropriations for several win.
tiers past, now nearly completed.
Thus much has Virginia done towards com.
memorating great men and great events. We
may be IN error, but we know of no other monn
ment In this Commonwealth. Over the remains
of Thomas Jefferson stands a block Of granite.
placed there at private expense, aud 90 mntilated
as almost To have lost it, form The dust Of
james Monroe found hospitable grave in a
Northern tate.and has been suffered 10 remain
there The great political philosopher, who was
the chief author, advocate and expounder of tle
constitution, james Madison, has no monument
TO his memory. BY sort Of economical trick.
the Richmond monument gives pedestals 10 the
statues Of jefferson, Madison. Henry aud Nar
shall but Patrick Heniy's grave is marked
scarcely even by head stone.
The want of monuments 10 her great sons
who have secured by their labors and bv ,bo;,
blood, blessings 10 and to the world, is n blo
upon Virginia which she should hasten To win,
off, Ii is proven that men feel it 50. else VII,
the apologies that are made for their absence
1t is said with more verbal truth than real ,ha
their monuments are in our institutions. and !;
our gratitude. Such as they have are thor.
for there are none to be found of more tangibl
description.
We believe there is real utility in monn
ments. They serve by a visible link IN con,oo
the past with the present. They exert. as work
of art, beneficial influence upon a nao,Ie a..
as visible embiems of national gratitude. the
keep the sentiment alive and warm. Tbo,, sou,
to intensity the spirit of nationality. With,
which no people is capable of anything great :
noble. Whence the pride and devotion ,v;,
which the Athenian regarded his CITY. hut 80,
the clustering associations of great aobiev,
ments in the cause of Grecan liberty. wbo
came with flood of mingled emotions over l.
soul, as he regarded the Acropols-wb;tsno
with commemorative marbles Whence tbe :,
terest with which we ourselves regard the mi,
of ancient cities, but from the power of associ,
ton! Men need visible objects to remind the
OF the past. The same laws of feeling wb;o
bring tears to the eyes of one, who, after a Lon
sojourn in other parts where h. bs ,t