The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-24
HISTORIC WILLIAMSBURG.
Its Romantic Past and Its Peaceful
 Present.

Its Romantic Past and 1ts Peaceful
 Present.
 Richmond Dispatch.
 Much is being said and written agains,
 the tendency to migrate from rural dis triets to the feverish and congested life
 of the cities. Men who think and write of the problems of life, on subjects of eco homie and social reform. are advoca ting the life of the country as nost natural and happy. Probably to this current of thought is due . revived interest in the old towns of Maryland and Virginia.
 Whatever the cause the old Capital de- serves :her share of notice. Excelling in historic interest, no town of its class can surpass 1t in pieturesqueness. healthful- ness. or the general conditions which % to make an ideal rural life. Indeed, Will liamsburg has . charm peculiarly It's own. There is no one who has ever dwelt here hut longs some day to return. Tho cas- ua1 visitor carries away e vision of re- pose. of quaint houses buried amid fiow- CTS and trees. and of wide old streets. whose dswy verdue and shade win return to haunt him amid the rush and heat of the city. From Colonial times to the rev olution 1t was the scene of stirring events. and the spirit of that romantic past seems to pervade the very atmosphere. These same old grassy streets once echoed the footsteps of men whose names are famil- tar to every school boy and whose utter ances and actions shaped the destiny of the nation.
 If one stroils the length of the famous Duke of Gloucester Street he will see places with which are associated some of the most momentous events in the history of the country. Under the spreading elms of William and Mary stands the statue of Lord Botetourt. tho best-beloved of the Governors. and one can imagine the shade of the great Hugh Blair. scholar. reformer and founder of the college. walking about beneath their shadows. Duke of Gloucester Street is mile in length and looking from the college through the vista Of trees toward the oth- CT end of the street one can see the site of the House of Burgeases. the two his- toric buiidinss-one of legislation, the other of learning-opce facing each other. Throughout the town are picturesque old mansions, some dating back to that pe- riod when Governor Nicholson removed the capital thither. and bearing that air of stately excIussveness which marked a time of social aristocracy. Many of these houses are owned by the descendants Of stately exclusiveress which marked time of social aristocracy. Many of these houses are owned by the descendants of families distinguished in the literary and political world. Here is the old Bruton Church solemn and imposing in the dig uity of its age end traditions To its gates once rolled the coaches of courtiy old planters and its pews were filled with gentle dames-the flower of Colonial beau ty. It is possible Jefferson often came here-smiling safcastically at the pagean- ha storiSTncrafq wei fO catch a smile from his Belinda" the fas- chatting Miss Burwell. The church sur vived the struggle of non-conformity against the establishment. when Edmund Pendleton was its friend and Jefferson it's foe. and still stads as @ national land mark. Around the corner is the Palace Green" starred in springtime with innu- merable buttercups. This is the site of the Governors paIace-tne nucleus Of gayety and fashion for this once gay town.
 Further down. near the Capitol, stood the Raleigh Tavern" the rendezvous or the young bloods gathered in town Tor races or balls, and later the haunt Of Lee, Patrick Henry. Jefferson and Kan dolph. who met in the Apollo Room" to consult and plan. Thither the indignant Burgesses, whom dissolved. hastened to assemble and pass laws under the very eyes of the irate royal Governor. Mid way in the town still stands the Powder scene of Virginia's "Gunpow- der Plot'-built in 1715 by Governor Spots- wood, who started from this town on his famous expedition to the Blue Ridge and its smiling valley. This happened rapidly during those days which preceded the revolution, and one can picture the stealthy march of the British marines through the darkness to seize the powder by Lord Dunmores orders; the excite ment and fury of the crowds in the strets newt day: the call to arms, and the threats and denunciations hurled at the councillors hastening to the palace.
 Other visions from the far past come of Bacon, bold, impetuous. daring, stop ping here years before the town was and it was simply the Middle to administer the oath Of allegiance to his followers; of Governor Spotswood starting forth with his retinue to explore an unknown region; of Dun more, fleeing through the forests for his life; of Washington, dignified and calm. and Jefferson, alert and determined, pass ing toward the House of Burgesses' whose walls. long since crumbled' resound- ed to the impa ss oned eloduence or Fat rick Henry. On some of these old porehes the beautiful Miss Burwell may have sat and chatted with her irate lover, Gov ernor Nicholson. whom she rejected and whose devotion was exceeded only by his bad manners.
 In the golden October weather of l7H the whole town turned out to see and cher a never to be forgotten sisht-the march of the troops, ragged Provincials, and debonaire Frenchmen. on their way to capture Corvallis.
 The glory of that past lives In song and story; the Tavern the Palace and the Capitol" have long since crum- bled and disappeared, but many Of the old ancestral homes, built of timoerS which defy decay, still stand They are loved for their memories and associations, and receive a devoted care almost unknown in city life. In consequence they grow more beautiful each year, and nowhere In seen that dilapidation which Is character istic of many towns not half so old. The spacious gardens, where fruit ana How CTS run riot together. are odorous depths of verdure and glowing color. Improve ments have been made in the city, but so as not to detract from its air of beauty and repose. Situate near the two prin- cinal cities of the State, Williamsburg keeps in close touch with tho progressive affairs of the outside world, and has an 9 xcluTive so,cety of its own. The pride ,f ancestry Is a birthright to those who constitute it: yet between them and the h,1fnhlest exist the kindliest relations, and the poor are helped in an unostentatious -,hristian way that robs charity nf It is, indeed. an ideal town, and during these warm. bright autumn ..,. q. ha. hAao at ifa hast The abun-