Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-01-03

A correspondent of the Louisville
Courier Journal. who has recently been
on a trip through the famous Peninsula
of Virginia, sends his paper an interest
ing sketch of Williamsburg, the old
colonial capital of the State, the scene of
some of the most stirring events of the
revolution, and the seat of William and
Mary College, the alma mater of Presi-
dents and statesmen. From the letter of
this correspondent we make the follow
ing extract:
The next morning proceeded on my
trip TO Newport News, a sort of Asgard
to me in my desire to get to the end of
the road. En- route we crossed the bat
tie ground of the Chickahominy fights,
went near the SeYen Pines field and
many other places of historical interest;
crossed the Chickahominy, saw many of
the old breastwOrks, now plowed over
and yielding a rich harvest Of grain every
season; passed Fort Lee, Providence
Forge, and reached old Williamsburg
about noon. Here all was old and
dreamy, sad and mystical The antique
sanctity Of the place was interrupted by
the whistle of the locomotive an by the
eager curiosity to see the outs world
that had the temerity to invaf ,e hal
lowed precincts of the capital De Old
Dominion. 1t is enough to max
1.-THE head rim round and round about.
And the heart to flow like the sea"
to look upon these old houses and an
Gent palaces, and to reflect upon their
history and their former inmates of over
200 years ago. For here was the seat of
the aristOcracy of the cavaliers, the
representatives of royalty in the New
World; the seat of all the old traditions
of Virginia, the centre of BacOn's rebel
lion, the birthplace of the Revolution.
the forum of revolutionary elOquence
and the seat of the first and last struggle
in the war for Southern independence
Hooked upon the site of old Raleigh
Tavern, where Patrick Henry thundered
his anathemas against unjust taxation
and tribute, upon Lord DunmOre's pal
ace, with its quaint old painted portico,
all built of glazed brick brought from
England upon the homes of Lord Din
widdie and Earl of SpOttswood; upon
the homes of Judge Tucker and DIR.
Peachy, and upon the dark, old frame
building occupied by Gen. Winfield
Scott when he was a student at William
and Mary College
At the intersection of old Palace street
with Capitol street, of the ancient days
of royal and arstocratic splendor, |
could see the old Bruton parish church,
ivy clad and its walls of glazed brick as
solid as they were two hundred years
ago; the old Colonial Magazine, an oct.
agonal brick structure, that supplied
ammunition against the Bacon rebels
and against the British, now desecrated
and metamOrphosed into a stable; the
site of the old Colonial Capitol of the
Old Dominion; Lord DunmOre's palace
Apollo Hall and the Wythe House,
where Gen. Washington made his head
quarters on the eve of the decisive battle
with Lord CORVALLIS.
1t was painful to look at Williams.
burg, the beloved, hallowed spot of old
en- memories. Every house has its his
tory Of Olden greatness, but the grandees
who lived in such glory and state are all
in the dust never to return. The abOmi-
nation of desOlatiOn .eigns supreme, and
the old city of grandeur awaits to be re
habilitated by their descendants. Utter
stiffness Teigns where formerly all was
hustle, business and fashion; where lords
and ladies rode IN carriages with armOrial
bearings, and where the mistletoe hung
in the castle hall, and where the holly
branch waved on the old Oakeu walls,
carved and grained in the height of fash
ion of those days. But now
''On ev'ry side the aspect was the same,
All ruined. desolate forlorn aud savage;
No hand or foot within the precinct ca
To rectlfy or ravage
The STATUE, fallen from its marble base,
Amidst the r'fuse leaves aud herbage rotten,
Lay like he idol Of some by & ne race,
Its name an rites forgotten"
Within the campus of William and
Mary still stands the marble statue OF
Lord BOtetOurt, the good Governor OF
Virginia, and the representative of his
Royal Master in the new world The
statue was fearfuly mutilated aud dis.
figured by Buffers soldiers after the
defeat al Big Bethel The indignant
citizens obtained permission to remove
the statue to the Lunatic Asylum for
protection. 1t is told of a vulgar, ruff
anly Yankee officer, who looked on in
a state of beastly intoxication while the
statue was raised by ropes from the
pedestal to be removed, that he hic-
cOughed out these remarks in a maudlin
sOliloquy: cole Eel, we kicked and
cuffed you, and you wouldn't surrender;
we shot you al over, and you wouldn't
surrender; we hung you with ropes, and
you wouldn't surrender, just like these
id proud Virginians, and now we are
going to send you to the lunatic asylum
to see if that will take the starch out of
you. But | am assured by the citizens
Of Williamsburg that the aristocratic
Lord smiled contemptuously and never
surrendered