Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-30
; WITH THE :

I war, and she had larger fortunes 10
| stake: But nevertheless at the first echo
Of the guns OF Lexington she. rose IN
| her might, and during all the after pro-
| g-ess OF the war there was practically no
active Toryism or serious disaffection
| among her people. But as the Oldest OF
the colonies her original liberal grants
| Of proprietary rights in the unoccupied
territory OF the West were much larger
| than those OF any other colony The
| common hazards OF the war Drought
prominently to the surface the slumbeT-
| Ing jealousy of the less favored COO
| MES. Her adjoining little sister of Mary
| land seized hold upon the opportunity o.
| this common interest and her geograPhl-
| cal position as an available means OF de-
| spelling Virginia of her western territory
| and delayed acceptance OF the articles OF
| confederation. and the Union hereunder
| for several years to eXtort from Virginia
a surrender of her western territory. The
| Virsinians Of that day, as their sons ever
! since, were not "A people to yield readily
| TO unreasonable demands predicated upon
| anything like menace. and preferred, like
| all the other colonies, to leave the little
sister in the cold in her lonely promi-
hence.
Though Virginia did resent this fretful
attempt to constrain her, she was too
deeply interested in the establishment OF
a union OF free American States to with
| hold any sacrifice to effcctuate it. and
| she manifested that interest In a prlnceIv
| surrender of her rights in the north
! western territory.
The scholarly author of this book In
an apparent effort at historic fidelity has
| not escaped the bias of his environments
| In minimizing this bounty and unselflsh
patriotic purpose OF Virginia. He says:
"At length one State after another
agreed to cede to the national govern
| ment all claims and title TO this western
| land
This phraseolcgy of THE National Gov
| ern1nent' has pronounced sectional
| twang. The author is student OF his
| tory and American history is his specla,-
! ty. He knows that at the time Of which
| he speaks the only then organism of any
government OF the United States was a
| Congress of Representatives of thirteen
| confederated sovereign States. each State
voting in the Congress as unit. lie
knows that no claim of nationality was
ever asserted for the United States under
the then existing articles of confedera-
| ton, and that the conceded fact that
there was no such nationality and no
| government in possession Of nationai
| power and authority either at home or
| abroad was the occasion of the Federal
convention which adopted the present
| Constitution of the United States.
Whether that Constitution constituted
| national government or not has been
| matter OF controversy but any dcsigna-
| ton of the United States under the arti-
| cles of confederation as q national gov
| eminent is the grossest travesty OF his
| tory.
| He says farther:
New York was the 1irst to give up her
! claim. on March l. 1871. Three years later
| 10 a day Virginia ceded to the general
fI1t ~ Of
| and Illinois, which falls south Of the 4lst
| parallel"
This statement is a palpable misrepre-
| sentation of historic truth The facts are
| that The deed of cession from Virginia
| through l,er representatives in Congress
/ is dated March /. 1884. But that deed bears
upon its face recital that on Septem-
| her {. 1880. Congress recommended to the
| States a concession OF their claims to
| western lands and that on June 2. 11l.
! not four months thereafter, Virginia re-
] spcnded to the recommendation and yield
/ ed all her right. title. etc. to the North
west Territory upon conditions SO reason
able that they were accepted by Congress
| September IS. 1853 and the General AS
sembly of Virginia at its succeeding SEES
sion. begun October co. 1888. ordered the
! execution of the deed OF cessiOn. 10 Hen
nirgs Statutes, 81.
If we had to take the authors dates
as historically accurate as to the ACTON
of New York il would appear that Vlr-
+! ginias action antedated hers But ne
/ does Injustice to New York in this date;
! for New York, through her Legislat ure,
on February 10. 1850, passed an act ceding
! ner claims to Congress for the use and
! benefit OF such of the United States as
| shall become members Of the tedef2l
| alliance of said States. and for no other
| use or purpose whatsoever 10 Hennlns S
/ Statutes p. $50. At that time MarElanc
| had not acceded to the Articles Of Con-
! federation, and the limitation OF the ces
| sjol was to constrain her action,
| But this is not the worst of this state
,nent of the author. He undertakes to
! sa:r without a warrant OF authority,
| from the deed of cession of Virginia. or
| iler legislative action. that she asserted no
| claim beyond the fist parallel, and limited
| her grant by that boundary line. And he
| fortif1es this minimizing OF the grant OF
| Virginia by sundry maps, in which ne
| defines by. geographical lines the cess!ons
/ of Virginia, Connecticut, MASSACHUSETTS,,
ana New York.
We have no occasion to discuss the con-
| ficting claims of all these States. put
we do protest against the Justification OF
history which attributes to Virginia, III
| her patriotic TnCnifcence, the recognition
of these boundary lines.
1t is enough to know, as this author
| comedies, that the conquest of George
| Rogers Clark was the causa causaus OF
| the American title to the countrE's Mis-
| sissippi shore, and though he is not frank
enough to acknowledge it, the Virginia
possession in her county OF Illinois was
the browning evidence of conquest by her
| own unaided military force.
| It is not pleasant to make this crlt1-
| cisn Of a book, which we think so worthy
| IN many respects of commentator. The
outline of the Louisiana purchase and
| of other territorial acquisitions OF the
United States appears to be fair.
/ But we feel compelled, in commencing
| this book to qualify our commentator
! by exposing the injustice which its pre-
| fatory chapters do to Virginia.
From all that we have known OF this
| author from other works. and from his
| recognized rank as a his,o.ic writer. we
revolt from any unfricndly criticism.
| But we must say that in his pollution
| Of American history at its fountain
sources. we see abundant justification for
| the distrust with which our people avoid
| tho average OF northern publications as
| text books for the education Of our young
| people. q. X w
/ THE OUTLOOK STORY BOOR FOR
/ LITTLE PEOPLE. Edited by Laura
Wilmington, with drawings and photo
| graphs New York, The Outlook Com
| pany.
A book that will captivate the fancy Of
| ~. ,.4,. o,a. .,5 ,,ro1,a ;pctr,,rfive fO