The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-09-04
FNR XFAT or THE GREAT EsP0SillUN'
The Most Interesting CIV III
the Union.
Historical sketch.

EnHIsIt 'lN1k iI az ~
tinent was on a peninsula Jutung on mo
Isma~ riyer a sh0r, distance below Ken.
mond. Tic English hadalIcady established
tbemselycs in Virginia and had explored
the country faI above thesi;c Of Richmond
and had taken i in the name OF Nor 'o'
and Their King. nd had a representative as
xe,nbly when the Pilgrim Fathers SCI 1901
nm Plymouth Rock. POwha'an tad traded
corn with the virginia settlers had made
resce and war with them for years ami bad
retired from the scene amid his nauyeio'es's
nm the banks of the PoWhatan lby TIE
horocsick colonis,s foolishly changed 90 Tie
James, long before Massasoit and saia"se
of the Wampanscys made their treaty WIN
Governor Carver and taughttheh ali starved
remnant Of the pilgrims % RAISE corn.
.Jamcs liver from Richmond TO Old Point
Comrort vas the highway for Virginia boat
men and jamestown, Newport Ncws Der
uuda Hundreds and ~Ilenrico were houfsi'
irc colonies. when New York was a DaiCh
trading post and Boston was a forest.
Not NAM mics below Richmond are me
ruins Of the Oldest Christian church NAlch
The Saxon race built IN America ana me
Peninsula is the scene Of the first struggle
bet the English racc and the forces %
the wilderness and the savage. Every io.t
of ground is more directly associated VIA
the settlement Of this continent than his
toric Plymouth Rock,
Thus Virginia is the Oldest n al States
in the Union. & noe that time SIC La Zee
tanned her historic prestige.
The first representative assembly which
ever met on American soil convened az
Jamestown. The last q the British Domin-
ions which held true to the Crown was VIZ
einia, which gained TINS the hight 20 he
onartered on British Arm. The first arned
resistance made against ylce-r.gD tyranny
WAS made in Virginia, and was headed BY I"
planter who owned the very spot On
which a portion Of the city Of Richmond
now stands, ore f the boundaries ~ the
citv being nameI ia incidental commemofa-
49,, e .s.e la,e udco.t- q ,-.,ci biAh'h.
ON Virginia soil 'o3k place the long strue-
rle between The colonies and the crown. be
tween liberty and depression andhnaily from
Virginia burs, forth TIA, ma'chiess galaxy Of
stars which founded THIS nation and esiab-
lshed the American Union.
Along the banks Of the James dourished a
race which has had no parallel in this land
a race ofEugli h gentry who added TO traits
inherited and transferred from then British
ancestors, a love Of freedom and O passion
for the rights Of the individual born Of the
liberty of the forest. The splendid man
sions falling to decay yet dignity and adorn
the banks Of the historic river their work
can never decay. Its fruit is the American
Uniofi
Thus Virginia is historically the mos, IN
teresting Of the States of the Union from
h settlement of the continent to the end Oh
he great Civil War she retained wninier-
sapted her prestige.
II was u %virginian, Henry, Vhe first flung
down the gauntlet at the feet Of an armed
and mailclad tyranny and declared icr lib
erty OF death. Il was a Virginian, Nelson
who first moved in a general assembly hat
the Delegates If the colony ip The Colonial
Congrcss be instructed 10 declare as free and
independea, States. 1t wasa Nirsnian, Nj
Bon, whodrafted thcgrcat Bill If Right. twas
aVirginian, Iee.wAo wass clec'edto draw the
Declaration Of Independence, and nj un-
syoidable absence, the task d~cyo!yed pom
another Virginian, Jefferson.
II was Virginians who first in the words
history ordained a wrt en- Constitution Is a
compact between the Governor and the gov
erned. Il vas q Virginian who took COM
mand Of the armies Of the Revolution. and
after conquering Freedom for the new land,
took and held the helm Of State steady
through the rough seas which pre- eedcd Tie
launching OF a nation. Ii wasa Nirgin'an
who presided for nearly half q century over
the Supreme Bench Of the United states and
there e~xpounded the laws and laid down the
principles upon which the new government
was founded, with a wisdom which was
their yindication and a reason which was
their proof.
At the time Of The war Virginia had held
the office of President during half the period
which bad elapsed since the formation II the
government; Nirginians had commanded
the armies Of the country in the only TWO
wars which had taken place, and Virg.nians
had taken the lead in nearly every ac, .n-
volying The welfare and progress Of the
country.
In 1851, Virginia alter long AID painful
dehberation and doubt as 70 Der duty, and
after exhausiins every Effort TO cfoc' arc-
conciliau ~ between the hostile sections
upon her peace comm ssioners being treated
with disdain, and upon presiden, Lincoln S
call for troops, and demand fora passage way
through her borders, decmins this = anal
violation OF her constitutional rights, with
drew from the Union and prepared for war.
he immediately became the. battle-ground.
Within three mouths one Of the. tlood.es,