The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-09-27
Richmond
uY STAT OF THg GREAT EXPOSITION
The Most Interesting CIV III
the Union.
Bistoricsl Sketch.

Tho fir,t permanent settlement Oh VIC
English speaking race on the American oV"'
bnent was ON peninsula jut'ins OUT i'So
I.uas river a short distance below Ken
mopd. The English had already estaonsho,
them .elyes in Virginia and had expioreu
the country far above thesite oil hlcninonu
.nd had taken it in the name oil their ooo
and their King, and had representative as
.ev,b,v when the Pilgrim Fathers SET 100.
on Plymouth Rock. Powha'an had 'raoed
,orn with the Virginia settlers had mace
c.sce and war with them for years and mao
ra.;rad from the scene amid his native forests
on the banks of the Powhatan 10y the
.omesick colonists foolishly changed TO the
J.mes) long before Massasoit ana safnose'
of the Wampanseys made their treaty WIN
Governor Carver and taught the half starved
remnant of the pilgrims to raise corn,
lanes river from Richmond to Old foih'
Comfort was the highway for Virginia boat
men and Jamestown, Newport News Dei-
muda Hundreds and Henrco were nourisn-
In, colonies. when New York was Dutch
trading post and Boston was a forest
Nor many miles below Richmond are the
x,,ne ., .he oldest Christian church which
the Saxon race built in America ana 'he
peninsula is the scene Of the first struggle
,stween the English race and the forces OF
wilderness and the savage. Every 1901
ground is more directly associated with
.he settlement of this continent than Is MS
toric Plymouth Rock.
Thus Virginia is the Oldest of all the states
In the Union. Since that time she has re-
tanned her historic prestige
The first representative assembly when
.uor met ON American soil convened at
jamestown. The last Of the British Doinlh'
ions which held true to the Crown was VIZ
gnia which gained thus the right to be
ouartered on British Arms. The first armed
resistance made against yiceregal tyranny
,r.s made IN virginia, and was headed by
Young planter who owned the very spot on
which portion of the city OF hchmohd
now stands. one Of the boundaries OF the
city being named in incidental commemofa-
tion of the fact Bacon's Quarter Branch
On Virginia soil took place the long strug-
ole between the colonies and the crown De-
tween liberty and oppression, and finally from
Virginia burst forth that matches galaxy oil
stars which founded this nation and eS'ao-
lished the American Union.
Along the banks of the James 1rished
race which has had no parallel in ms land
n race of English gentry who added to trans
Inherited and transferred from their British
ancestors. a love Of freedom and passion
for the rights of the individual born OF the
liberty of the forest. The splendid man
MONS falling TO decay yet dignity and adorn
the banks of the historic river; their work
can never decay. Its fruit is the American
Union.
Thus Virginia is historically the most in
teresting of the States Of the Union from
the settlement of the continent to the end OF
the great Civil War she retained unlnter-
rnpted her prestige
II was a Virginian, Henry, who first flung
down the gauntlet at the feet OF an armed
and mailclad tyranny and declared for I'D
srtv or death. 1t was a Virginian, Nelson
who first moved in general assembly that
the Delegates of the colony in the Colonial
Congress be instructed to declare us free ana
independent States. twas Virgnian, Ma
son. who drafted thegreat Bill Ct Right twas
aVirgnian, Lee, who was selected to draw the
Declaration Of Independence, and IN his IN
ayoidable absence, the task deyolved upon
another Virginian, Jefferson.
twas yirginians who first in the worlds
history ordained written Constitution as
compact between the Governor and the gov
armed II was a Virginian who took COM
mard of the armies of the Revolution and
AFTER conouering Freedom for the new land
took and held the helm of state steady
through the rough seas which pre- eeded the
launching of a nation. Ii was Nirginian
who presided for nearly half century over
The suoreme Bench Of the United States and
there expounded the laws and laid down the
principles upon which the new government
was founded with a wisdom which was
their yindication and reason which was
their proof
At the time Of the war Virginia had held
the Office of President during half the period
which had elapsed since the formation of the
government; yirginisns had commanded
the armies of the country in the only two
wars which had trken place, and Virginians
had taken the lead in nearly every act in
volving the welfare and progress of the
country.
In 1861, Virginia after long and painful
elaboration and doubt as to her duty, and
after exhausting every effort to effect re-
cancellation between the hostile sections,
upon her peace commissioners being treated
with disdain. and upon President hncoln's
call for troops. and demand for a passage way
through her borders, deeming this final
violation Of her Constitutional rights, with
drew from the Union, and prepared for war.
She Immediately became the battle-ground.
Within three mon' Nsone Of the. bioodiest