The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-05-14

tho colony stood and grew, and waxed
valiant and mighty. II
Of the legends which cluster round
some OF the leading ngnres. and es..
the delightful Pocahontas, the Nallsicaa
OF this Virginian Odyssey, l will not
venture to speak. leaving this theme
to the more capable lips of native vir-
ginians But Of the founders Of the
colony | may say this: We note In
spirit OF adventure, was common to
them. with many others who had
crossed the Western sea. Think Of CO.
lumbuH when he first showed tho path
that SO many were to follow; Of Magel-
Ian. when he threaded his way through
the savage soltudcs OF the strait that
bears his name. and traversed, week
after week. and month after month,
with mutinous crew, hard pressed
by thirst and hunger, the seemingly
boundless wastes OF the unknown Pa
ctfic. Think of Chhmplain and La
Sale when they found their way
among fierce Indian tribes, through
shores of the Great Lakes MS far as
the Mississippi. For more daring and
self-reliant hardihood, no expedition
has ever surpassed, IL indeed any has
equaled. that OF Hennando Cortez,
when after burning his ships, he Il
with q tiny band OF cavaliers into
tho heart Of the vast and warlike en-
/ pire of tho Aztecs. But in the other
quality our countrymen and your fore
fathers stood pre-enlincnt. They came
from free country, though It's free
secure foundations; and the spirit of
liberty and the love Of self-government
glowed in their hearts.
Shirt of Freedom.
About the cargo that these three
vessels carried we know very little.
Bibles and prayer books they certainly
had, for they were God-fearng men,
and one of their prime objects was
"the planting of Christianity amongst
leathens." There was a clergyman
among them. and they were all re-
CURED to attend his manifestations.
Whether they had any law books does
not appear. But they carried In their
breasts the principles and traditions
or tho common law OF England, which
of all the legal systems that have ever
been framed Is the one most fully per-
vaded with the spirit Of liberty, and
| the most favorable to the development
of personal self-reliance and individual
responsibility. That spirit showed 1t
self very early among the colonists
OF Virginia. In 1919 they were given a
House OF Burgesses, elected represent
tatlves of the eleven infant commune
ties. which by that time existed In
| Virginia; and these Representatives.
| with the Council, formed the General
Assembly of the colony, the first rep-
i resentative assembly that ever met on
the American continent They began
forthwith to govern themselves 80 far
as the King allowed them. They were
we'll supported by the Virginia COM
pany in London. It's debates and the
/ liberal tendencies 1t evinced caused
Z tdlsquiet to the court party and to the
1 Spanish ambassador and to King
James. whose suspicious mind noted
z tho rising OF the wind which was to
swell thirty-three years later into the
A tempest of the great civil war.
q How the spirit Of freedom and that
assertion Of individual rights which
q the doctrines of the common law fa-
vored. went on working through the
i annals Of Colonial Virginia as they did
\ through those OF the great sister and
. rival Colony OF Massachusetts; how the
same spirit prompted Virginia's action
when an unwise English ministry.
, ignorant Of the circumstances and feel-
ings Of the colonsts, Numbered into a
!conflict which ended In their severance
from England; how the greatest of
all Firginlans, carum ct venerable
nomen. led his colony and its fellow
i colonies In that conflict; how the.
z craftsmanship of Virginia. matured by
the experience Of nearly two centuries.
bore it's part, and most distinguished
part, in framing the Constitution Of
l17S'. and gave to the Union four out
d of it's five first Presidents. among
Them that most remarkable child of
!rginiu, the unwearied and versatile
y ;lomas Jefferson: how one OF Vir-
s!nia's most illustrious sons. Chief
!, Justice Marshall, so eXpounded and
developed the Constitution as to be-
come almost its second author-of all
this must not here and now attempt
to speak. Nearly fifty years ago dark
days descended upon Virginia. War
came. with all the evils that war brings
, in It's train Those were days of sad
{ ness and MISUNDERSTANDING borne
) with the characteristic gallantry Of
5 |Virginians. and they produced In Rob
: ert e. Lee one of the finest characters
, of that age. But out OF the storm there
, curse of slavery, which had, alas! come
, down from early Colonial days. There
, emerged a republic which now stood
, more truly united than 1t had ever
i stood before. To-day the jealousies Of
r States, the antagonism of North and
{ South. have happily vanished Vir-
. glnla and Massachusetts, the Carolina
/ Of Calhoun and the Illinois Of Lincoln,
!, can all look back without bitterness
!, on those Virginia battlenelds where
} | Leo and Grant won undylng fame
! The problems that now occupy the
) thoughts of your people have, with
, one exception, nothing to do with geo
/. graphical boundaries. Never was there
3 In this country SO strong sense that
! whatever the future may have In
. store. the Federal Union-"an indie
5 structible union Of indestructible
: States'-must. and will be preserved.
) It guarantees your material prosperity.
: 1t is guarded by your national patrio-
t tism.
9 Greeting to America.
In this season Of fair weather It
Is natural that your eyes should look
back across the sea to the ancient
Motherland. from whom you were
for time divided by clouds Of mis-