Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1863-01-13
Life I'm Richmond.

| The following article from the graphic pen OF the
! editor ofthe Richmond Examiner, is worth dozen
horailies the prospects Of peace and the devasa
tons of the il will richly repay the readers
ION the habitable globe there is no place so de-
lghtful ss tho Capitol of the Southern Confederacy.
For permanent residence, it will compare with
I the cities of Arabian romance. Haroun Alraschid
would go mad with joy if he could become citizen
of Richmond. A six months residence in one Of
our hotels or boarding houses, would afford Sche-
heraBade material for a story that would keep the
Sultan awake for the remainder of his natural life,
even supposing that life to be prolonged beyond
the brief days of Methusaleh, or more extended
years Of the gods of Hindostan. There are people
of rude tastes who talk eoquenty of the great cap
itols OF Europe. There are men who love to live
even in Paris. Human nature is very strange
But persons of refinement and oil culture, the world
over, could they only be apprzed of its ncompara-
bic attractions, would fly with the speed of raw
enous eagles to Richmond, as the most desirable
residence perhaps in the whole universe.
We speak calmly for We desire to excite no an
ticpation that cannot be superabundantly realized:
Consider the innumerable DELEGATIONS Of this me.
tropos. 1t is the seat of the Confederate govern
ment. So careful has the President been in the
selection of his associates that there is not mem
Der of his Cabinet who is not profoundly versed in
the sciences and in ancient languages, while many
of them speak Coptc Familiarity. The lowest mes
senger in the most obscure Department has history
at his fingers ends and the philosophy of abstrac-
ton in the palm Of his hand. A purity of life,
dignity of manner, elegance in conversation, a
depth of thought and an urbanity of disposition,
mark each and every member Of the administration
and all Of their subordinates to a.degree which has
never been approached in the annas-of political So
ciety, and which renders acquaintance with them
a happiness almost unspeakable. Free and cordial
association with natures SO lofty and so endowed
cannot fail TO ennoble all who come in contact with
Thorn. 1t is enough to move one to tears to think
of the unapproachable supremacy Of the morals and
manners of Richmond in the great future which
awaits U.S.
But it is not in high official circles only that the
delights of Richmond life and society to be found
The eete vapid and conceted race Of F. Fs has been
submerged under an inundation of fresh adventur-
Gus spirits from all parts Of the COnfcderacy and
elsewhere. The fantastical days Of the Wckhsms
CANDLES, Randolphs, Leighs, and Wirts has passed
away forever; we rejoice in new era and miscel-
laneous population, troubled with none OF the rdicu-
lous airs Of the socalled gentry.
The olden times have passed away,
. And glorious are the new.
Here is the sweet Baltimore plug, adorning the
corners of our principal thoroughfareS. Here are
the useful and industrious sruui9 of the depart
ments at Washington. The new man, the garroter,
is here; though We see him not save in the prints
of fingers on the threats Of unarmed citizens. In
the palatial stores on Main street, once inhabited
by Yankees devoted to the Union, we find brawny
Italians vending apples at half dollar piece, and
nondescript Southerners selling minute plugs Of
wretched tobacco at twenty-five cents. Stout Mary
anders occupy rooms the cross streets and there
throw away blockade boots and shoes with reckless
lbcrality. Able bodied refugees, from God knows
where, swarm in our cellars and abandon themselves
with noble self abnegation to the traffic in putrid
oysters mixed with mean whiskey. Substitute
agents follow their unremuneratiye vocation in
namelesS places; extortoners roll in the wealth &C.
cumula.ed from everything that the earth produces
or the hand Of man can fashion; bavds, arrayed in
the silks of Tyre and Sdon and in the Jewels Of
Samarcand illumine and perfume our sidewalks;
gamblers erect their sumptuous towers on every
hand; whilst as if TO crown this splendid concen-
tratiOn Of social ornaments the yernnous deserter
parades his rags in ostentatious defiance alike Of
civil and of military authority.
The variety of our people is not their only charm.
We are told that the worn out race which once in
habited this city distinguished for their gentle
manners. No such effeminacy eharacteriZes the
lusty and enterprisng population OF the new era
The spirit of freedom is broadly manifest in them.
1t is beautifully examplifed in the Italian fruierer,
who with difficulty refrains from kicking you out of
doors if you refuse to pay him dollar an ounce for
his peanuts. The small tailor, suddenly become
rich is sPeechleSS with indignation if you dare ask
him to unbend his dignity in the contemplate opera
ton Of Inending your clothes. The cobbler once
too happy to halfsole your shoes, scowls at you
furOusy if you approach him on any such mission,
now that leather Is worth its weight in gold. The
sadder, the gasftter, the grocer the tallow chand
Ter, the merchants in coal aud in wood-in fact all
who have aught to SELL indulge the inso.ence of
pecuniary independence to a degree which makes
intercourse with them infinitely exhilarating. The
entire absence of osequousneSS on the part OF our
modern shopkeepers is enc Of the most encouraging
features of the new times in this Confederation.
An exceedingly low estimate of the destinations
of the life in Richmond would be formed If the &C
count should not include the nominal prices of pro-
visions, the astounding healthulness Of the air. and
the abundance of the precious metals. Space does
not permit us to dwell at length upon these enga-
gIng features of Richmond existence during the
second War for Independence. When poor man
is compelled to buy oal of opuent milers at price
which would stagger millionaire, and when beef
at sixty or eighty cents the pound removes every
moar III the jaw Of a mans head and reduces his
bicuSpds to the circumference of a cambria needle,
IF he have the hardihood to attempt to chew it,
every. candid mind must confess that the journalist
who generally presumed to be INDECENT has little
scope for the exercise of his powers beyond the
recording Of the markets and the latest sales at auc
ton. The eloquence of bare quotations transcends
the abilities of any editor however gifted, and
throws him at once into that vast herd whose empty
stomachs are ample excuse for their gaping as
constituent at the unprecedented altitude IN Che
charges for the commoneS necessities OF life. And
if it possible for the half nou rished body to
withstand the encroachment OF disease, it would be
a consolation to the citizens of Richmond to know
that he dwels in perfect storehouse of maladies,
and may take his pick at any hour OF the day or
nightof the desdliest caamities that afict the hu
man frame. 10 be the prey of the most lingering
and loathsome contagious, is surely not altogether
desirable but churiish indeed must be the sufferer
who in the midst Of his acutest agonies cannot find
abundant solace in the reflection that he can pay
his incompetent doctor in shinplasters, and that
when he dies as he certainly WILL he will be buried
in the suberbs of Richmond among countless
throng of onelegged soldiers, courtesans garroers
and blacklegs."
For the Standard.