The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-06-30

complete the study of tho century as
relating to the colony"
Mr.. Bruce begins his book on Social
Lifo In Virginia in the Seventeenth
Century" by description or the size
and population OF the colony at that I
period, giving facts and figures to
support all of his statements. Special
influences mentioned by him as opera
ting to promote English emigration to
! Virginia are the loyalty of the colo
nists, even under adverse circum-
| stances. to the English monarchy; their
devotion the Church of England; the
| fact that Virginia society was com
/ posed OF landed proprictors and their
! dependents, and that the life led by the
| Virginia gentleman on his estate was
! much the sume as that enjoyed by the
I Eng ishman at home, the observance
/ even of English games and holidays
being IDENTICAL with what was prac-
/ ticed in the Mother Country.
Four chapters of the book. devoted
] to "The Origin OF the Higher Planting
| Class" in Virginia are specially fun
/ of interest and Information in regard
4 to the men who made the first history
i of the Commonwealth. Mr.. Bruce cites
| what is known Of the genealogy of
| the first Legislative Assembly meeting
4 at jamestown In 1912 to show that this
II DOuy "dSa-cO1IlpOSeu OIL men possessed
4 of good social standing ~ England
lin mentioning further the different elc-
ments forming the Higher Planting
Class" as a whole, he >enulnerates the
many Virginia colonists who were con-
4 nected by blood or marriage with per-
sons of high position in England; the
4 many Sprung directly from the
Il sqGirearchy and cavaliers Of the Mother
II Country" and the important section
-llr, JnC n,1fe 1it.1,
i merchants.
,ll The chapters given to the corsidera-
ton Of social distinctions and the So
\ cial spirit prevailing among the early
II Nirginians are five in number Mr..
Bruce points out in these that in the
i Virginia of the seventeenth century.
j aside from small professional class.
i society moved along two lines, tho
4 landowners and the laborcrs. Atten-
4 ton is called to the fact that social
: life in Virginia was organized from
the outset, and that the spirit which
: actuated It's first Governor. De La
; War;, reflected the social spirit of
: Virginia in it's earliest days as well
Il as in those which came later. Mr.
Bruce in referring to the legal entitle-
nent of the early Virginians to coats
\ OF arms. says: The English ancestry
! OF most of the founders Of conspicuous
Il Virginia families was as well known in
the seventeenth century as the ancestry
oiEof an equal number of persons belong
ling to the English gentry of that day.
1lThey could follow their genealogical
Fl descent with a like precision and ac-
/ curacy; In using coats OF arms in Vir-
ginia, they We're simply doing what
j, their fathers had done before them in
: England, and what they themselves
s had done previous to their own emf
s grafton; and 1t appeared to them as
Il much matter OF course to use such
: coats of arms in the colony as it would
VI have been had they never left their
!. native Devon or Sussex, Stafordshre
h or Lincolnshire"
So Other social and class distinctions
/ Unmarked by the use of esquire. mister
h madam, gentleman and planter, in con-
nection with the name of the person
addressed or in signatures are explain
II ed; the social spirit in Virginia en-
g gendered by ties with the Mother Coun-
try and the colonial manner of life
as evidenced in the charter OF Vir-
/, ginia homes. Hospitality spacious and
:, well furnished. and the dress Of both
:, men and women of the period, have
been pictured by Mr.. Bruce In a most
realistic way. He also describes the
!, popular diversions of the early Vir-
. ginians in acting, games, horse racing
. hunting and fishing. He does not fat
;, vices and the mrth and jollity tina,
. prevailed at weddings. He draws 6
: sketch Of the colonist at church ant
= in attendance upon court day and mus.
= ter. The conditions out of which the
habit Of duelling arose and it's exist
I ence are also explained.
In conclusion Mr.. Bruce says: TT
/ the cursory glance the social life o
:. Virginia in the seventeenth centur,
seems doubly narrow and provincial
~ first because 1t was q community oc
ie cupying site only comparatively re
So Gently stolen from the primeyal forest
,r and, secondly, because 1t was colon.
III lying several thousand miles away fror
n the Old World and all the controlling
10 currents of those times But that If
~ at once assumes It's true character o
III universal interest and imporanc
n, when it is recalled that this was TIL
n, beginning of a social system Whic
~ was to make a lasting impression upo
=, the history of the Western Hemisphere
~ and which was to produce that memo
!. rable body of men, Washington, Henry
Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Mar
! SHALL"
Authorities for statements made i
; the text and quoted in the referenc
notes are listed in the front of tn
volume. An appendix contains tn
names Of prominent Huguenot emil
grants to Virginia and gives the date
and causes of their coming. so
The value and great interest of tn
book as whole Is most apparent I
all desiring a correct impression
regard to the early history OF th
State, which in n sense the his
tory of the country. AS an authc
who combines accuracy with charm
style. and who Is -eminently quail
fled by natural gifts and unusual or
] portunties for the task he has
hand, Mr.. Bruce has no superior.
TODAY AT. JAMESTOWN. BY Sail
Nelson Robins.
j The Boston Evening Transcript {
r June 9Th contains San article undo
the above caption that Is one of tt
| best written anu most admirably G.
4 pressed of the many accounts TIL,
j have recently appeared In print col
4 corning the famous starting place
= the American nation.
i Mrs Robins makes tho difference