The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-08-25
yirgtnir. GentIemen.

virgtnty. Gentlemen.
GRAPHIC PES.PIcr GRE OF Az ENGLISH VISITOR
TO THE oir poMiNroS-wHAr "ARisTo-
cRACy" ysANT AMONG TBe y. y. VISA
rLAxTA.IoS OF rue oLDgN TINE.
IA. @. Bradley in the Ps.Ms, Gsxette.l
Colonel B. Is what the southern peo-
r,e cali an "old.tme Virginia gentleman " !;
and when he II gathered 10 his fathers,
.her crowds Of carriages and horscmcn,
tnn,n,cn. and country folk, aud neigbbors
iron, ali ouariers. collect together TO pay
,hcir las, RESPECTS 10 the representative OF
on bonored name, and when the slow
hearse moves up the hill behind the house
70 where, within picket renee, cIump
NJ cvpress trees look down on the
,nmbsiones Of three or Tour genera
lions OF his prcgenitors, the local papers
wifi lament the seyering OF one more INK
that bound them 10 The past. Ihey VII,
euloetze their departed friend cas- man OF
Sns,icc and fine sense. Of high-toned princi-
mics and polished courtesy, Kind to his SER
ysnts and charitable 20 the poor; constant
attendant Mt the church OF which he was
member: an ardent sportsman and once
owner OF fine psck OF foX-bounds," and
finally, a. a. scholar and a man OF culture
These latter attributes must not be sup
nosed to imply that the Colonel would have
been exactly ia his element in an OK
ford common-rOom. but they may be
taken as roundabout way OF STA
ting that the defunct worthy was a
" gentleman" by birth and education. in
contradiStincton TO mere farmer. His
es,o,c-a large one. some 1000 acres--lies
en- one Of the remoter highland counties.
The whistle OF the railway engine, even in
the still weather that heralds the coming
storm, is not yet heard; and that be mas 10
haul his tobacco twenty miles 10 market
troubles his old-iashioned soul but lltlle.
He is far removed from what may be called
the rising portion OF the State, where along
the foot Of the mountains thicker popuIa-
ton and richer soil attract settlers from
the North and from England, and streams
OF visitors and summer residents from the
extreme South and the great cities. The
Blue Ridge, indeed. is scarcely visible even
in the cleareSt weather from the highest
point on his plsntation.
The ColonePS brother-in-law owns the adj
Joining estate, which consists OF ] 800 acres,
while the property on the other side be-
longs TO a relative who has lived in Rich
mond since the war, and l. larger than
either: so that his immediate neighborS are
soon counted up. The representatives. OF
these three estates have been, In fact, yerita-
bic kings OF the forest since time shortly
previous to the Revolutionary war, when
The great-grandfather OF the Colonel came
nm from the SCabOard counties, for reasons
unknown, and bought the entire neigh
borhOOd for the sum Of $50, rs the title.
deeds. with the signature OF the royal
Governor Of that time appended, show.
Local tradition, however, assigns that
hardy pioneer a captaincy in Colonel Bu-
ford's regiment OF horse that was raised In
those parts. and formed part Of Lees
0.ight-lIorse Harry's) cavalry, which dis
puted under Gates " remember right
the fords OF the Roanoke river with Lord
Rawdon and TaretOn's divisions OF Corn
wallis'S army, and finally forced them back
TO Charleston. :. c. This for a beginning.
The "OnIy q hundred years ago." followed
by three generations OF respectable and ed
ucated property. hOlders, whose sons have
followed one another 10 William and Mary
College, or the University OF Virginia, or
occasionally even to Harvard, and have
been lawyers and parsons and soldiers,
stamps the ColOncl-according 10 the social
verdict of Nirginia-as a man Of good fam
lily.
PURELY AMERICAN ARIsTOCRACY.
II there are any who suppose that the
aristocratic claims OF the higher Glasses OF
southern society are based nowadays to any
appreciate extent on English antecedents
they make a great mistake. For the hon.
ored names OF Virginia, just as those OF
New York. OF Maryland. or New England,
may or may not be able TO boast Of descent
from the younger son, and perhaps the
scapegrace son OF an English country
squire, but it cannot be supposed by Eng
lsh readers that the illustrious names that
have adorned the Senate and councils
boards, or led the armies OF their State and
nation, can receive much additional lustre
from such fact. Neither does American
society often trouble its head upon the SUBJ
ject, except in individual instances
as a matter OF private interest, or
when curious historians or antigua
Tians insist on making the widest
pedigrees, based often on mere proba-
bihties, or on the similarity Of not uncOm-
mon names, for their greatest national
heroes. In New England certainly denser
civilization and keener intellectual life
have, from motives OF curiosity, stored up
in its museums and Libraries and picture
galleries its relics. both public and private,
OF the past. But Virginia has been specially
neglected. in such matters. The very site
Of Jamestown has, L believe, been lost. 1t
cannot be wondered at, then, that the Colo
mel does not know and does not very
much care who the great-grandfather
was who carved the family estate out
OF the forest primeyal. AT the same time
he presents what at first sight may APP
pear to English eyes the anomaly OF pos
seSsing a distinct pride of family OF
peculiar kind-ihe pride OF having lived
as ladies and gentlemen as long as any
body In the country cared 10 go back, in
contrast TO the rapid accumulation OF posi-
ton common TO all democracies-of a family
without quarterings, whom ostentation
could not elevate in the opinion OF its own
section, but whom one unworthy repre-
sentative might destroy. 1t is doubtless
this last possibility that makes in America
what would appear TO the inhabitants OF
Older countries a short hereditary career for
a family 30 much respected. Something
more than even 4 mere harmless existence
i required in its successive representatives
10 maintain position, white individual
worthlessDess will bring the name to a GER
tainty tumbling down again to Obscurity.
AN OLD VIRGINIA PLANTATION.
One may ride for a mile or two on the
ColonePs plantation before his house comes
into yiew-through acres and acres OF oak
and chestnut forests over the noiseleSs car
Pet that underles The eyer-sighiDg groves OF
pine; over hundred-acre fields Of wheat
siubble, where coyey after covey of part
ridges rise before The hounds. who riot
al will; through fifty-acre fields OF corn
stalks, against which the ungathered blades
OF fodder rattle in the winter wind. Here,
Fa Hal1 u hen L. -