Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-10-04

right after YOU turn from the main avenue
M, mo roadyav which runs alongside the
stream which Is &c your left AS you go
towards the new par, of the cemetery.
n srems TINT the marble statue of Hon.
Jefferson DAYS. made for Jackson. Miss,
va.uolel,cd from the bust made IN Eng
land by Comfy and which Mrs. Davis
regards as by far the best likeness OF her
husband IN existence. II is evident, there
fore. that the sculptor or the aforesaid
siatre either did not reproduce the bust
correctly, or If he did that ne must have
failed in making the body. Mr. Davies,
the photographer here. has bust
of Mr.. Davis which was made by
,ialt. This also Is celebrated work.
In 1865 it was n the Office OF Mr. John ".
Davies. marble-cuttcr and monument
builder. in the lot al the northwest corner
of Man and ninth streets, and was saved
from the fire Of the evacuation 10y Mr..
pavles's thoughtfulness in burying II III
heap OF ashes in the yard. This conceal
mcnt was made TO save the work from the
vandalism OF the invading army. but II
would have been destroyed in the fire had
not some such disposition as tins been
made of 1t.
General Boulanger. whose dramatic
suicide startled France especially and the
world in general on Wednesday, WAS here
III Richmond on October Il. l0'l. lie came
70 this city from Yorktown As member of
the deputatIOn sent 10y France 10 DO honor
TO the occasion of the unvelllng OF the
monument there. commemorative OF the
hundrcdlh anniversary OF the surrender oi
Lord CORVALLIS to General Washington.
Along with the French delegation was one
from GERMANY sent by that Government
with like purposes. One Of the French
officers was Captain -. George Tucker
Mason. a brother of Mrs. Archer Ande!-
son. who, having done his duty 10 the Con-
federacv, went abroad after the war, was
commissioned by Napoleon III. and arose
To high rank before his untiinely death
occurred.
On the night of the arrival here Of
Hochambeau, Won Steuben, Boulanger,
and the other distinguished guest thnre
was grand ball given them at the Alan
house. On the southeast corner If Man
and Fifth streets. the house that was ior
long time owned and occupied by Mr..
Allan. who adopted and educated Edgar
Allan Poe. and from whom the Allan III
POe's name WAS taken
The house was at that time vacant and
committee of ladies took II in charge and
furllNltU ulll lttOINktl IL ~ rs ~ iilHhf
II very presentable indeed. At that time
Boulanger was the favorite general Of the
French army. 4 number OF Richmond
ladies had the honor of dancing with HIM
that night, and. by the way, the young
Due dues (whO was III Richmond not
long ago with the Count of Paris party
is q son OF the lady who furnished BOu-
| LANCER his campaign fund OF several MIL
| lions Of dollars with which 10 inaugurate
hA IL
concealed purpose OF restoring the house
of Orleans to the throne.
When General Boulanger was at the ball
| in,Richmoud he was avery handsome man.
about thirty years Of age, with fair COM
plexion and light blonde mustache. He
| wore the cavalry uniform, consisting OF a
| blue coat. red pantaloons, high-top boots,
with gold tassels. and "A c',dpedu similar to
that worn 10y stan officer. The coat was
covered with gold lace and his left breast
| blazed with stars and orders. General
! Boulanger was SAID To be st that time the
Youngest general IN the French army.
Miss Martha Ford. the charming littl9
actress who played here last week, well
| deserves the success she has won, | think.
| for there is something 50 natural and
| fresh in her acting that one almost forgets
| he Is in a theatre. When she appeared
| here the first night those of the audience
who were really interested IN the play
were constantly harassed by people who
came in late and several individuals who
| saw tit 20 engage in conversation through
out the whole of the performance. One
| man had evidently arrived at the cOnclu-
| sion that he was overwhelmingly facetIous,
| and on every occasion when the actors
were going through with their pathetic
| parts he gave exclamation 10 some remark,
| which III his opinion was exceedingly fun
nv, but which IN reality greatly disturbed
| those sitting around him. 1t seems u lie
that people who go to the Theatre TO be-
| have this way had better stay away alto
! gether, for what with making themselves
| intensely dsagreeable and disturbing
everybody else's pleasure. they bring down
| the wrath of the community upon them.
Three Of my fayorlte writers-Dickens,
| Thackeray, and Tom Moore-have been to
| Richmond. but this was many. many years
ago. and few indeed of the present gen.
Grafton can say that they ever had the
! pleasure Of looking on the faces of this
celebrated trio Of literary stars. Shakes
peare has said that the evil that men do
! lives after them" and can never think of
J Charles Dickens's comments on America,
! and Virginia especially. without getting
| indignant at the unreasonable manner IN
| which he criticised us. Without knowing
anything about it whatever he undertook
TO comment on slavery. and selected all
| the bad sides 10 this question aud exercised
his mighty pen IN their behalf. lnasmuch
| as he was only in this country q few weeks
| think il would have been well for him TO
, have investigated the subject more
thoroughly before he plunged into it and
| heaped his inyectiyes on IA people who re-
ceived him with the utmost hospitality.
| Now, Ihackeray, whom the world calls a
| cynic, q woman-hater. and what not.
showed much more genteel spirit ard
viewed slavery from an entirely unpre-
| JUDGED standpoint. This is what he SAID
in III open letter from Richmond. dated
March 3. 1853: The negroes don't shock
| me or excite my compassionate feelings at
ALL they are so grotesque and happy that
| can't cry oyer them. TIE little black
imps are trotting and grinning about the
streets women, workmen, waters. all well.
fed and happy The place the merriest
little place and the most picturesque
have seen in America" BY the way, II
really seems astonishing to me how much
Thackeray knew about the history aud
geography Of America. In his Wiz
ginians" he displays "a thorough know.
|
country. and the Old Dominion especially
l confess know very little-absolutely
nothing-about Tom Moore's visit &c
America except that he was here and wrote
his beautiful poem on the Dismal Swamp
from information gathered In Virginia
Some one was telling me the other day
that he wasn't at all pleased with his visit
To this country and didn't hesitate to say
so. lie Is reputed to have said that he SAY
only one gentleman In America, and this
individual WAS Wing lawyer who lived IL
Richmond.t
The number Of boys who have been en-
rolled at the Richmond High School this
session is remarkably small and for some
unexplained reason they seem to deem IL
unnecessary to complete their studies ai
this excellent institution. 1t il true that
. good many go through the junior classes,
but even after they have done this they
can certainly lay no claims to classic
education. Perhaps il is that Unsuitable
desire to enter business life and make
money which causes our coming men "a
| be thus careless Of their educstions.
TaE Idle KxRosyyR