The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-09-18

PROSTATE.
Four years Of var had stripped her; her
labor was metemophased into an incubus
her institutions were oyerthrown; her debts
and burdens were increased her property
o,d taxable values were annihiated, her
energies were paralyzed; her very existence
was suspended.
THIS was twenty.three years ago. During
a large part Of this period the problem OF
existence. the paramount question OF simple
being encrossed al her powers Misunder-
stood and Stunned by all without, threat
ened and burdened by many within, sh' had
N devote all her facilities to the imperative
demand of the hour, the preservation OF her
being as state and people
AT last she stands upright again in the
,-cor Of renewed strength, in the joy OF re-
stored health, in the full power of a sovereign
state and the pride of hale and prosperous
people. ,..e,,
AS such her Capital City, her beautiful
Richmond on the James now sets her
house IN order, prepares her feasts, sets out
her wares and stretching out her hands unto
her sister cities, says to them
CONE AND SEE NE
Richmond, the Capital Of Virginia Is the
oneen ofthe South enthroned upon her'ree
clad hills and crowned with the diadem OF
beauty and health.
Situated on the elevated plateau at 'he
Falls ofJames River once the Powhatan' she
stands at the gateway between the uplands
If the piedmond and the lowlands OIL the
Tdewater. The breath Of the mountain
fans her brow. the tides Of the Ocean wash
her leet.
Old William Byrd Of Westover, whose
historic mansion not many miles Fellow IS
one # the landmarks Of the continent ana
one Of the herlooms Of American history
Gentleman Of Virginia member Of the KING S
Council. Representative Of the Colony Bur
coos of his County. was entrusted TO run the
much questioned line between Virginia ana
her sister North Carolina. Thus occupied
living awake one night in the Juniper recesses
oftbe Dismal Swamp, came TO him thoughts
Of his home and with them one Of those H.
snirations which may be the whisper oil a
pas.i~e angel, and may be the emanauoh Oh
genius. He would found a city, nay he
would found two; one should be On the APP
nomattox but the other should be on yet
fairer spot on queeliier riyer' his own
majestic James.
He knew the spot for it. There Nature
herself had laid the siie-a more skilliui en-
eipeer than be had drawn the plan--a diYiner
architect had laid the foundations.
1t was already a city and wanted but the
buildings and the people. These must IN
eyitably come in time. Indeed that most
rash but most brilliant and farseeing young
man who had been once his fathers neigh
Dor. had chosen the spot with his rare WIS
dom and had there a plantation or quarter
and when the Indians had come down ana
killed his oyerseer and cattle, had he not
clamored for revenge until he had started a
revolution which came deuced near up citing
His Maiesty's Government, and played the
devil generally. II would be the chief city
in Virginia, the largest in the southern
colonies if not on the continent, if the peo-
ple would but recognize its advantages ana
build it up. What spot it wasl
An elevated plateau right at the falls oil
the river, above malaria and ague' WITH
the fresh air of the mountains, keeping II
cool in summer. and incompatible climate
and purest water from unpopuated
springs: view of the ioaming
waters, glancing and dashing over
immense boulders for nearly two miles
made a landscape whose beauty was I'M
riyaed as place ofresidence fora beauty-iov-
inc people. this side of the oak clad reaches OF
the Thames The river front was easily ac-
cessible and evenly d stributed and at the
same time SO immense that il would grind
the grain of a continent, and run the factor
les of nation. Behind it was the rich Pied
mont running up to the Blue Ridge and yet
further back behind the azure mountains an
unexplored region which stretches to the
French territory, Louisiana. Before 1t was
the
HEAD or DEEP WATER NAVIGATION
with its diurnal tides which could float any
vessel that His Majestys marine could send
across the seas.
How could il be otherwise than city?
Thus must have thought Colonel VIM.
Byrd lying under the stars reading the future
with prophetic vision, for on the completion
of his mission, he laid out the streets and
squares Of city, on the fair spot at the Falls
of the James, and the head of deep water
which had haunted his dreams IN that then
far distant shore of the Dismal Swamp, and
as there was 10 place this side the sea whose
beauty was comparable, be named 1t after
that Incompatible spot upon the loved and
winding Thames
RICHMOND.
This was in 1877 and from that day to the
present. Richmond has been the Gem City Of
the South
For beauty, for saiubrity, for convenience,
for all the charms and advantages which can
make a home delightful, or place Of bust
ness desirable Richmond stands supreme.
Since il was founded the most momentOus