The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-11-11

Hi thrilled forth thai Wstcu"oiu vi 'ne
revolution. that birhright Of the unborn
nation. Give me Liberty or give ne DEATH
Here took shape those 9tste papers a.
ready referred 10, the Virginia Bill OF hssh ..
and the first written Constitution the world
ever saw.
Here George Washington lived and moved
and his HEADQUARTERS still stands. Here
Jefferson. the Lees. Nelson. Ben Harrison,
the Tylers, Madison. Monroe, Pres dents and
fathers of Presidents spent their time, and
Wondered their problems of.state-~nd many
Tiers Of the giants lived and loved and
s.roye. Here Tarleton, the Raider, swept
everything before him, TIL young Lafayette
crossed his path.
Here John Marshall, tnegr' at ChiefJustice,
lived His house yet stands, an object OF
veneration to every man whose soul ~ higher
than beasts. Some day 1t VIII belong 70
a.. city unless some sharper shall trade on
tho indifference Of the South, to its highest
,nomorv and turn il into second rate tene-
ments.
Here was brought Aaron Burr after being
indicted by a grand jury of which John
Randolph was foreman, to be tined before
Judee Marshall, with WIN. Writ, Luther
Martin. John Wickham and John Hay OF
counsel.
Here the great Daileys Of old times framed
the edicts which made and unmade Presl'
dents and Cabinets.
Here General Winfield Scott. the Com
manderjn-Chief Of two wars lived and
married.
Here Lafayette came az young soldier
with sword drawn for liberty and heart iired
with dreams Of the Cid. and here an old man
who had seen and had tempered as he might
the horrors Of the most appalling revolution
which shocked liberty with her own
name he returned to eceiyetheapIsause and
affection of a people he had done SO much
TO save.
Here lived Edgar A. Poe Americas
greatest literary Genius. The house when
was his home has so far survived noble
old pile fit for poets home toyeriooSs
the reaches of the james for miles and is the
envy of every Spectator.
Here when Civil War with half drawn
sword plowered on the land, when common
vealths stood face to face ready to spnng'
took place the momen,ous, but unsuccess-
fnI effort of Virgini', the Mother Of States
and statesmen, 10 avert the Calamity, and
here at last she adopted the ordinance Of
secession, and flung herself across the pain
Of war.
Here was est sblished the Government OF
that child Of war, the Confederate States oil
America.
Here the leaders Of the Confederacy had
their homes. and Jefferson Davis house,
General Robert Z. Lees, Judah 7. BenIa-
Minis. James A. Siddon's and other Southern
leaders houses are objects Of interest to the
Northern visitor if Of indifience TO the resi-
dent.
Throughout the four years of the Civil
War. Richmond was the point of attack, the
prime object of endeayor of the Federal
armies.
II was the heart Of Virginia and Virginia
was the heart of the Confederate army, after
the army was dispatched against 1t, General
after General flung himself desperately
upon it. Hundreds of thousands Of men and
hundreds of millions Of money w're lost III
the endeavor to capture the Confederate Cap
ital. defended as it was by gallant army
and a devoted people. For two years 1t was
practically beleaguered city.
In three different campaigns the guns OF
the enemy could be heard from her hill
tops.
Almost within walk of the city are the bat
tic fields of two of the blOOdest campaigns
of modern warfare. and within easy ride OF
those of two more.
Thus stands Richmond full of memories, the
Mecca of the historian, every road associated
with events whose recall must kindle the i'm
agination. every spot fragrant with recollec-
tons which must elevate the mind.
As regards its commercial importance, Rich
mond's position is no less remarkable Its
motto sic itur al astra is not unfounded. The
unexplored country, which when Colonel
Byrd. with prophetic soul laid out this city
beside the rapids of the James, stretched be
yond the mountains through an unknown
wilderness, across trackless forests 10 the
French pOss1 ssiOns, then twenty times as dis
tant as France itself is now, have since that
day been opened up. His dream has been
realized. His widest imagination far more
than verified.
Even the French possessions have been Sc
cured and made tributary 10 the quecny city
he founded. Mines richer than Golconda':
have been discovered. Plains which are the
granaries Of the world have been found and
cultivated. The cattle upon thousand hill.
r are there in countless myraids. For
ests 20 make the Dayies Of III,
world grow there. and with it all space anC
time have been practically annihilated, and the
coal mines Of the Alleghanies, aud the graiT
fields Of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys are
! nearer Richmond to-day than Colonel Byrdl
plantation was when he laid on the city.
The foremost navigator aud geOgTapher Of
this century was Commodore Maury. Uni
y he threw in his lot with his own people Of yir
ginia he was a man whom the United states de
lighted 10 honor. He discovered the laws o.
, the winds and the tides; he laid down charts o
D the ocean, and mapped out its currents. Tn,