Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1863-01-15
The Delights OF the nebeI Capital.


Haroun Alraschid would go mad with JOY if
he could become citizen of Richmond. A
six months residence in one of our hotels OF
boarding houses would afford Scheherazade
material for a story that would keep the sui
tan 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 elo-
quently of the great capitals Of Europe.
There are men who love to live even in Paris.
Human nature is very strange. But persons
of refinement and of culture, the world over,
could they only be appraised Of its incompara-
bic attractions, would fly with the speed Of
ravenous eagles to Richmond, as the most de-
slrable residence perhaps in the whole uni
verse
We speak calmly for we desire to excite no
anticipation that cannot be superabundantly
realized. Consider the innumerable delecta
tons OF this metropolis. 1t is the seat OF the
confederate government. SO careful has the
president been in the selection of his aSsoci-
ates that there is not member of his cabinet
who is not profoundly versed in the sciences
and in ancient languages, while many Of them
speak Coptic familiarity. The lowest messen-
ger in the most obscure department has his
tory at his fingers ends aud the philosophy OF
abstraction in the palm of his hand. A puri-
ty Of lite, a dignity OF manner, an elegance
IN conversation, depth OF Thought and an
urbanity of disposition, mark each and every
member of the administration and all OF their
subordnates, to Il degree which has never
been approached in the annals of political So
ciety, and which renders an acquaintance
with them happiness almost unspeakable.
Free and cordial association with natures
lofty and so endowed cannot fan to ennoble
all who come in contact with them. 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 us.
But it is not in high official circles only
that the delights of Richmond life and society
are to be found. The etfete, vapid and con-
ceited race Of L. F.'s has been submerged I'M
der an inundation of fresh adventurous spirits
from all parts OF the c0ntederacy and else
where. The tantastical days OF the Wick
hams, CANDLES, Randolphs, Lelghs and Wifts
has passed away forever. We rejoice in a
new era and a miscellaneous population,
troubled with none of the ridiculous airs of
the so-called gentry.
The oden times have passed away,
And glorious are the new.
Here Is the sweet Baltimore plug adjoining
the corner of our principal thoroughtares.
Here are the useful and Industrious eruUia of
the departments at Washington. The new
man, the garrOter is here-though we see him
not, save In the prints of his fingers on the
throatS Of unarmed citizens. In the palatial
stores on Main street, once inhabited by u an
KEGS devoted to the Union, we find brawny
Italians vending apples a; half dollar apiece,
and nOndescrpt Southerners selling minute
plugs OF wretched tobacco at twenty five
cents. Stout Marylanders occupy rooms on
the cross streets, and there throw away block
AIDE boots and shoes with reckless liDerality.
Able-b bodied refugees, from cd knows where,
swarm in our cellars and abandon themselves
with noble self abnegation to the traffic in
putrid oysters mixed with mean whskey.
Substitute agents follow their unremuneratiye
vocation in nameless places; eXtortiOners roll
in the wealth accumulated from everything
that the earth produces or the hand of man
can fashion; bawdS, arrayed in the silks of
Tyre and Sidon and in the jewels of Samar-
cand, illumine and perfume our sidewalks;
gamblers erect their sumpuous towers on
every hand; whilst, as if to crown this SPLEEN
did concentration of social ornaments, the
verminouS deserter parades his rags in osten-
tatious defiance alike of civil and Of military
authority.
The variety of our people is not their only
which once inhabited this city were distin-
guiShed for their gentle manners. No such
etieminacy characterizes the lusty and enter
prising population of the new era. The spirit
OF freedom is broadly manifest in them. 1t is
beautifully eXemphfed i'll the Italian truiter-
er, who with difficulty retrains from kicking
you out OF doors if you refuse to pay him Il
dollar an ounce for his peanuts. The small
tailor suddenly becomes rich, is speechless
with indignation if you dare ask him to I'M
bend his dignity In the contemplate operation
of mending your clothes. The cobbler once
too happy to halt-sole your shoes, scowls at
you fariously if you approach him on any such
mission, now that leather is worth its weight
in gold. The saddler, the gas filter, the gro
Ger, the tallow-chandler. the merchants in
coal and in wood-in fact, ali who have aught
to sell, indulge the nsolence of pecuniary in
dependence to degree which makes inter-
course with them infinitely eXhilarating. The
entire absence OF obsequiousness on the part
OF our modern sliOpkeepers is one OF the most
encouraging features of the new times in this
confederation.
An exceedingly low estimate of the fascina-
tons OF the life IN Richmond would be formed
if the account should not include the nominal
prices of provisions, the astounding healthful-
ness of the air and the abundance of the pre-
CiOuS lbctdlss CpdCe uOGs HUI permit us TO
dwell at length upon these engaging features
of Richmond existence during the second war
for independence. When poor man is COM
PEELED to buy oflal of opulent millers at a
price which would stagger millionaire, and
when beef, at sixty or eighty cents the pound,
removes every molar i'll the jaw OF mans
head, and reduces his bicuspids to the cir
cumterence Of a cambria needle Off he have
the hardwood to attempt to chew IT'D every
candid mind must confess that the journalist,
who is generally presumed to be INDECENT, has
little scope to the exercise of his powers be-
You'd the mere recording of the markets and
the latest sales at auction. The eloquence
OF bare quotations transcends the abili-
ties Of any editor, however gifted, and throws
him at once into that vast herd whose empty
stomachS are an ample excuse for their gaping
astonishment at the Unprecedented altitude in
the charges tor the commOneSt necessities of
life. And if it were possible tor the half
nourished body TO withstand the encroach-
ment Of disease, it would be consolation to
the citizen of Richmond to know that he
dwellS in perfect st0rehouse of maladies,
and may take his pick at any hour of the day
or night Of the deadlieSt calamities that affiict
the human frame. To be the prey OF the
most lingering and loathsome contagious is
surely not altogether desirable, but churlish
indeed must be the sufferer who, in the midst
OF his acutest agonies, can not find abundant
solace i'll the reelection that he can pay his
doctor in Shinplasters, and that when he dies,
as he certainly will, he will be buried in the