Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-02-16
For the Enquirer.
CHARMING. &C., IN GooCHLAND

7, your issue of february l. correspondent, sign
ing himself *" gives his opinion OF us alter So
iourn of "solne MONKS" in the county.
Auprsciating the influence of your Jourhai, ana
having had an opportunity Of observing ifs wid5 CIR
culston through thaSouth and West, among our hu'
nerous friends and acquaintance in those regions;
we are unwilling tha the following paragraph shou'o
60 uncorrected: L.
is called the back woods the scene changes, ana
the land presents, IN all rides, nothing but oroom'
atrsw hengrass. AID old field pine. over inns re-
zion the geniue OF Oscillation seems to reign WIN uh
disputed sway. But not 10 Judge the charac
ter of the inhabi'ars by the gloomy appearance ot
I'm, country; on the contrary, we shal lind them
hardy industrious, virtuous race; who i've by les
labor of their own lands. and who seem TO os con
tented with the hubble lot to which fate has as-igsed
them"
Whilst there is something in the above extract
which does not savtr exactly of the honest tfusohs
of a Chele amang US taking notes" but from the
familiarity with which the phrase '5raon.strtw' nell
gress and old.iied pine" ia used, smacks rather 81
..one 10 the manor born," for il h. were North
.rnrr he would have admired the 'pine" 81 beau
tiful. uIurisnt evergreen" and if Southsrner, he
would have used The term "pIney w"oda, in.ead vi
"back wood." and il a Wes'srner he wouli have
selected the "red gully" HI The evidence oi power.
ty;) yet / AIN willing to concade I" nun si'
candur in misiaking the poor settlers on me r.
YER cliffs and bluff, for tho planters of Goocaiend.-
"Comparsons are i, is not our per-
pose To reflect in the least the glowing enromuns
which he passes the 'splend!G Estates bordering on
the river" and "th-ir enerprising proprletord -
though 'tis aud pity It's It's ;rus they are scarc
ly known in the county except to the ts1 gsih.r'r
aud those "who.e talk is vi overseering-and the
influence il uuf-f tor good evil. on thu bench. IN
the bar the pulpit among the trustees vt our S.h"s
and nc,d .nies. Their land j. far from being orSrs
" the leas; desi,sble: yet from the application Il
capital in most instance. tursga, or rather earned N
other vocstiuns, the swsnps and morassss Of the river
bOttous being reclaimed, and the State running Hs
thuroughfsre through their Estates have become gar
den spo!s. From babi; their eyes follow the oeaati
full meandering Of the canal both eastward and wesi'
ward followed in most instances by their hearts even
TO its e1tremi:es. and whittier they annually take *.
cursions, returning laden with the gaudy rapprg' ct
pomp, to swell their solitary grandeur.
but il We ", u few miles FROM the river &c. We
would cordiayinvte " if he be- vet IN e county cr
If he BE- not them the time he visits IT, to extend
his excursions into the Back Woods IN phrase oy
the By. we never hea.d us.d before. though born
and living here and boy it is not necessary 70 say
how many years. or rather beyond the Back W"ods
beyond tbs river ciefs and hs, sec'ion o country
known only to The iox hunter; the "-h-ep walks q,
the adjacen; estate, tenantrG by tquatt-rI employed
AZ stock and fence yap rnn.rs. and who. by the by
ar. ht!. known their landlords, except 20 he
pedagogue who pays them Eis anRua VIII: to fill ih'
form, Of Tia schooi. by aid uf public fluids " We
SAY, Wa invite ~ 10 extend his psrrgrlnatiGE:
little farther to thuss beautiful aud fertile tracts
~
creeks, the Little and Big Lickingn"la the Litl
creek. Beaver Dam, &c, &c, and he will sre them
studded with the residences uf Vsinians, who adori
the name in its richest s-ns, whose "barns and gar
ners are never empty" whose hospabe halls sr'
adorned by s.alwsrth sons and bnoming daughters
educated and refined in All the accomplishments F."
worth and gentiliy; whose pastures TEEN with stool
end whose Quarters swarm with cheerful, healthy
happy negroes whose annual income easily produces
by willing servants, varies from five 10 forty or IN n
hog head of tobacco, aud Rs many hundred bushels
whea, for sale. with abundance of "corn hay, clover
os:s" &c, sc who reside in their ancestral hal
among the members Of whose family, both white An
black exist the traditions Of their orelSthfss. respect
ins the days of the "gasd Lafayette and Lord Corn
wallis, wher the former, being encamped in LOUIS
and the latter the river cleft, Elk Hill. for weeks
| whila: on his march to Yorktown, all engagement WIS
daily expected. How "oid grand daddy" conceal-
| the stock IN sio. and auch place - "O.l Mssur,
wh.n "Old Marster was at the wara," means re
sorted to- to eude the forngng parties Of the enemy
who rspacous 10 robbing the planters OF thei
| negroes rs thei. stock.
"Who live by the labor of their own hands, m
seem 20 ba content with the humble LOT To which fat
has assigned them" Well, faint true and. whe
| Their tia pity faint true" say not. But hi
we cav, being man and hoy here for the indefinite pc
ro1 aforesaid, we have never known one land 0wne
in twenty, who hsbi.usly !abored with his cw
hands: and. nj this present writing there are Only .w
land Ownera of our acquaintance who pretend 10 Ia
! Dor with their own hands, and they are lately EN-
| grated from An upper county, and may their exam
| pIs be followed They hail from county celebrate
for the fertility Of s soil ard they are well PLEASED
affirming that the land they now work. which cos
them only eight doiara per acre, is ne profitable
that was which they sold for forty.
| Yet, in no community is houest industry and labor
both phyaical ard mental more esteemed and hon
orcd: and, with true Virginia generosity, they extern
the hand of friendship and sympathy to every homes
man. and, if he be poor with little more cordisi'
it it be hard.
We invite The enterpr;sng to our midst, pro
mising them q cordial welcome. Old Jason need
new blood infused into his veins Our lands are Ell
cheap and underrsted; they are easily cultivated
and highly susceptible of improvement and farming
is a. remuneraliyc in this county ~ in any other s-c
! ton Of the State; and, when they come, may h-i
example be followed unit! our daughters csn pic
up their pencils without the assistance of maid r
their chairs back, and our sons mount their horse
without the aid Of groom holcing their siirrupa-
But when they come, We advise them to come farihe
than "A FEW MILES FROM THE RIVER"
GoocHLASD COUNTY, February 5, 1853.