The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1870-05-30
vIRGlNIA-RIcHMoND.
Our Great Calamity from an Englisl
Stand Point.
From the London Telegraph,


Yesterday it was just seven years since,
during the battle Of Charlottesville,
Stonewall Jackson, after bursting upon
the rear of his panic stricken foe, received
his death-wound. The little city of Rich
mond, perched upon the gently swelling
hills that overlook the James river, was,
less than ten years ago, city which pos
sessed only local fame. 1t is BOW among
tho most famous beleugurel towns Of
which history bears record. Troy, So.
guntum, Syracuse, Corinth, Londonderry,
Saragossa, and score Of other towns
which have been immortalized by their
sieges, pale their Intellectual fires before
tho magnitude Of the warliko operations
around Richmond. In many American
chronicles of the great civil war it is
maintained-aud truly-thati in no previ-
Gus four years Of the worlds history Was
any tract Of land so deluged iu hum an
bleod as that bounded on the northiby the
Rappahannock, on the south by the James
river. ~ 3
B UnhappiIy the time has not yet come
when it may be said Of Virginia, as Lord
Byron said of the field Of Waterloo
"How the red rain has made the harvest
grow!" Crushed, lacerated. and beaten
down to the earth, the "Old Dominion, {"
aftorbearing the heat and burthen Of the
American war has, within tho fye years
which have elapsed since the restoration
ofpeace, recovered but little Of. her an
cient prosperity. Her recent harvests
have been scsuty; her fields, poorly and
iuadcquately titled, have been rendered
yet more unproductive by heavy drought;
the fsrmer owners Of her soil have disap-
pearcd. or labor under weary load Of
debt the colonists from tho Northern
States and from Europe have not yet been
able to mako the Valley Of Virginia BIOS
somlike the roso.. But, sorely tried and
afflicted as the old State has been, the
voice ofjoy and gladness was once moro
beginning to be heard in some Of her
homes. Although three Of Jobs trials
had fallen upon her. tile fourth, and most
startling, had not been added to her woes.
On q sudden We learned through tue
electric wire that just as great wind
smote the four corners OF the house in
which Jobs sons were feasting, so hor-
riblc casualty in tho Capitol building at
Richmond had caused the death Of some
threescore persons and the injury Of twice
us many more. The fuller details Of this
grievous calamity can add but little to tho
horror Which the simple statement Of its
nature and iesalt inspires. AT the mo-
ment when the floor oftle Appeal Court
fell upon the heads the delegates assem-
blod in what may be described as the Vir-
ginian House Of Commons, the Legisla-
tive Chamber was densely thronged with
members. Some conception Of the tragic
horror attending tie even. may be formed,
il we contemplate tue constornation which
a similar occurrence in sur ewn House 0!
Commons would awaken throughout these
islands. But the Capitol Of Richmond
plays mere important part, in Virginia's
chief city, than tho Houses Of Parliament
in our own overgrown metropolis.
Perched upon Ricbmond's central hill,
the Capitol is identified with most Of the
historical memories which cluster around
the "Oll Dominion" The building itself
w,s erected by Thomas Jefferson. the
author Of the American Declaration Of In
dependence, and the second Presiden. Of
tho United States. 1t was reared in imi-
tation Of tho Maison Carree ut Nismes,
built by Roman hands in tho south Of
Franco; and, although upon the banks Of
the James, the marble walls Of the Roman
edifco wers reproduced in brick covered
with stucco. The Capitol Of Richmond. as
it lifts its head proudly into the Dir, is a
noble object for tie eye to contemplate.
Within the same building Aaron Burr
was tried for bis life on The charge Of at.
tempting to compass tie disruption Of the
United States. There was upliftcd tho
eloquent voice Of William Writ, who is
ranked amoug Americas most impas.
stoned orators. From its portico, Daniel
Webster made one Of his most electric
spceches. Within its public library,
Madison, Monroe, John Randolph, Chief
Justice Marshall, Senator Hunter, and
many Of yirginia's most cultured sons,
have sat and read And, during tue tel
riblo war Of Secession, within its walls
hnxn lain In state iha honpred bodies Of