Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1863-01-28
Life in Ricmond.


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Life in Ricmond.
Ia the editorial columns of the Rich
mond Examiner Of Friday, we find the fol
lowing graphic picture of life in the rebe
capital:
On the habitable globe there is no plac,
so-delightful as the Capitol of the South
ern Confederaey. For permanent resi-
dence, it will compare with the cities o
Arabian romance. Haroun AlraschiC
would go mad with joy if he could be
come citizen of Richmond. A six month.
residence in one of our hotels or boarding
houses, would afford Scheherazade mate
rial for a story that would keep the Sui
tan awake for the remainder of his natural
life, ever supposing that life to be pro
longed beyond the brief days of Methu,
salam, or more extended years of the god:
of hindoostan. There are people of rude
tastes who talk eloquently of the great
Capitols of Europe. There are men who
love to live even in Paris. Human ma
tuTe is very strange. But persons of re.
| finement and of culture, the world over
could they only be apprized of its incom
parable attractions, would fly with the
speed of FaVenous eagles to Richmond, as
the most desirable residence perhaps in
the whole Universe.
We speak calmly, for we desire to excite
no anticipation that cannot be super.
abundantly realized. Consider the innu.
merable delectations of this Metropolis.
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 member of his Cabinet who
is not profoundly Yersed in the sciences
and in ancient languages, while many OF
them speak Coptic Familiarity. The low
est messenger in the most obscure Depart
ment has history at his fingers ends and
the philosophy of abstraction in the palm
of his hand. A purity of life, dignity
of maner, an elegance in conversation, a
depth of thought and an urbanity of the
Administration and all of their subordi-
notes, to a degree which has never been
approached in the annals of political soci-
ETY., and which renders an acquaintance
with them happiness mostunspeakable.
Free and cordial association with natures
so lofty and so endowed cannot fail to en-
able all who may come in contact with
them. 1t is enough to move one to tears
to think of the unaproachable 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
social society are to be found. The effete,
vapid and conceited race of F. F,'s has
been submerged under an inundation of
fresh adventurous spirits from all parts of
the Confederacy and elsewhere. The fan
tastical days of the Wickhams, CANDLES,
Randolphs and Wirts has passed away
forever we rejoice in a new era and mis-
cellaneous population, troubled with none
of the ridiculous airs of the so-called
gentry. .--s 500
The olden times have passed away.
And glorious are the new.
Here is the sweet Baltimore plug, ad-
orning the corners of our principal thor
oughfares Here are the useful and in
dustrious s.rltriae of the Department 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 Yankees
devoted to the Union, we find brawny
Italians vending apples at half dollar
apiece, and nondescript Southerners sell
ing minute plugs of wretched tobacco at
twenty-five cents. Stout Marylanders oc-
cupy rooms on the cross streets, and there
throw away blockade boots and shoes
with reckless iberality. Able bodied ref
ugees, from God knows where, swarm in
our cellars and abandon themselves with
a noble selfabnegation to the traffic in
putrid oysters mixed with mean whiskey.
Substitute agents follows their unremun-
eratiYe vocations in nameless places: ex-
tortioneTs roll in the wealth accumulated
from everything that the earth produces
or the hands of man can fashion bawds
arrayed in the silks of Tyre and Sidon and
in the jawels of Samarcand, illumipe and
perfume our sidewalks: gamblers erect
their sumptuous towers on every hand
whilst, as if TO crown this splendid con-
centration of social ornaments, the ver-
minous deserter parades his rags in os-
tentatious 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 inhabited this city
were distinguished for their gentle man
ntE. No SUCH OAGAo(ACAAeGS
the lusty and enterpFising population Of
the new era The spirit of freedom is
broadly manifest in them. II IS beauti
fully exemplifed in the Italian fruiterer,
who with difficulty refrains from kicking
you out of doors if you refuse to pay him
a dollar an ounce for his peanuts. The
small tailor, suddenly become rich, is
speechless with indignation if you dare
ask him 10 unbend his dignity in the con-
operation of mending clothes.
The cobbler, once too happy to halfsole
your shoes, seowls at you furiously if you
him on any such mission, now
that leather is worth its weight in gold
The saddler, the gas-ftter, the grocer, the
the merchants in coal and
in wood-in fact, all who have aught to
sell, indulge insolence of peeuniary inde-
pendence to degree which makes inter
course with them infinitely exhilerating.
The entire absence of obsequiousness on
the part of our modern shopkeeper is
one of the most encouraging features OF
the new times in this Confederation.
An exceedingly low estimate Of the
of the life in Richmond
would be formed if the account should
not include the nominal prices of provi-
sions, the astounding healthfulness of the
air, and the abundance of the precious
metals, Space does not permit US to dwell
at length upon these engaging features of
existence during the Second
War for Independence. When a poor
man is compelled to buy offal of opulent
millers at price which would stagger a
and when beef at sixty or