The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1897-06-10

50 man with a soul within him
Eoud enter Virginia for the first
ne with the same feelings of indif-
)errnce that be would cross the bor-
! ers of Ohio or Indiana. Shocking
l. ~ the Englishman's ignorance of
Auerica's past, the fields Of Vir-
lima, at least. even through the
,udow of Pullman car, will call
No dim visions of George Washing
ID and the FairfAxes; of Captain
nitb and Pocahontas; of La Fay
tte: Of Mr.. Jefferson, in his blue
bat and three-cornered hat, jogging
Tong the country road; of Patrick
beury thundering at king and Par
amcnt and if all these figures are
kot outlined so distinctly on the
kave,Iors memory as perhaps they
khou.d be-, there will be at least
hrklrg tenderness for the scenes of
bat dreamy old plantation life that
through the medium OF wandering
biustrcis IN more recent times fasci-
ated our childhood, and with the
rhoes OF its ban JOS gave us the ro-
bantic side of slavery. Then it is
but yesterday that slavery itself
k.rshed upon these self-same fields,
hd made them the theatre of one of
be most gigantic wars of modern
mes Here, winding beneath the
klnoad is an obscure brook, whose
kme twenty years ago was in every
ngIshman's mouth as it ran red
ith the blood of slaughtered thou
nds. Here country village,
here tho fate of great nation
nng for twenty-four hours upon the
klsnce, and if any monument is
AntIng of this Titanic struggle,
here would you find one so com
etc as in the great graveyards
lat, scattered over Virginia. bristle
ick with tombstones of Federal
bd Confederate dead 1t is at a
ltle station not one hundred and
fty miles south of Washington that
would ask the reader to alight.
pr several hours we have been run
ng South, and been gradually
|awIng nearer 10 a chain Of blue
puntains, whose wavy outlines
I've been following us since midday
pom our right, and climbing grad
ply higher and higher into the
estern sky. Between us and them
fs an undulating landscape of field
bd forest, rich in the gorgeous col
hing of the South, and bathed in
70 warm light of declining day.
Our old friend the generals car
hge, is there to meet us, and the
ming black face of his grey
aided Achatss, greets us with grlns
recognition from the box, anG
h numerous tugs a. the brim ol
shabby wide-awake, as we anG
trunks and the mail-bags are
Btled on to the platform, by the
prting and impatient train. He
ars no livery, it is true. The car,
ge has not been cleaned for a
NTH. The horses probably have
Pn taken this very afternoon from
plough; but what of thati Is not
hospitality all the greater or
At accountq The station. N stel
Fs not rush out and touch his hat
the general is quite as much
nored as if a cloud of obsequious
fters and powdered footmen had
listed in our removal from the
in to the trap; not from a stand
int merely of mutual respect
p might apply as we'll in Ne
lska or Ohio-but simply on socia
punds alone.
n our five mile drive we pas!
mbers of farm-houses of all sort!
y Szss-some new, some old, some
&c, some small, sometimes will
ldy porches embowered in annua
(epers, and sometimes old strag
ng gardens full of box and honey
kIe and myrtle, thyme, and balm
many half forgotten herbs
ppling streams cross the road il
ny valley, for it is mostly up ant
Rn hill. Nothing can be mor'
turesque than the countr,
ough which we are travelling
leumes the rough and winding
VI leads US through woodland
lose large leaves wave above ou
lds, sometimes through opel
ds, where the tobacco just ripen
Tor the cutters knife is spread
It's dark green leaves above tn
sfm, red soil, and where the tai
ian corn in all the splendor of it
foliage rustles gently in tn
,nng wind. Here, too, to tn
az aud left, stretch wide stubbl
US with their deep carpet of an
weeds over which in q m onth'
. the sportsman's settlers will b
ging for the coveys of quail. bu
malt grown. In the valleys sol
sdows spread their level surfac
sl from recent rains along tn
fgln OF willow bordered stream
water and enrich them, Will
their soft turf the shadows {
Ranging woodlands grow longe
longer as the light of day d,
'es. From the tall tobacco barr
leS the familiar odor of the Gu
Oh tue first cut plants, and thi
uus OF smoke above their roo
z clearly against the reddenin
Negro cabins of squared los
Ter upon the roadside on sunr
tops, or In shady glens, viii
N held and forest comes the wi
ody with which the Ethiolis
ers his hours of toll. Behind a
Ign many miles away, the graz
BSes OF the Blue Ridge Mountai
piled against the Western SIX
rocky SUBMITS, their chestnu
Ced slopes, their deep ravin
owed by white cascades tn
hder ceaselessly through hel
groves and strawberries of RI
endrons and of kalmias, all m
90 into uniform tint of
est and the deepest blue.
short struggle up the hill
brings US to the plateau
cn the homestead stands.
Is the mansion itself with
acres Of lawn and as much mt
ltchen garden, surrounded pa
wall, and partly by q pick