Fredericksburg, Virginia 1608-1908/21
CHAPTER XXI.
The First Proclamation for Public Thanksgiving — Pennsylvania Whiskey Rebellion — John Marshall and the Supreme Court — Religious Liberty — The Monroe Doctrine — Seven Presidents — Clarke Saves the Great Northwest — The Northwest Explored — Louisiana Purchase — Texas Acquired — Mexico Adds to Our Territory — Maury; the Oceans Measured, Sounded and Mapped — The Ladies' Memorial Association — The Mary Washington Monument, &c.
This chapter is taken up with a continuation and conclusion of the subjects of the last two chapters — that is, a brief reference to what has been accomplished for the country by the giant minds, and through the dangerous and daring exploits of the men who lived in Fredericksburg and within a radius of seventy-five miles of Fredericksburg; therefore no farther introduction to the chapter is necessary.
FIRST THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION.
It was Richard Henry Lee, of Westmoreland county, a Virginian, styled the Cicero of America, who wrote the first proclamation for public thanksgiving in this country. Congress, with the government, had moved from Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, where it had gone for safety, to York, in the same State, then containing about 1,500 inhabitants. At that time the chief cities in the country were in the hands of the enemy, except Richmond and Savannah, and the American army—again defeated at Germantown—retreating before a victorious enemy. Congress had been in session for nine months in York in the years 1777 and 1778, and while there heard the news of the surrender of Burgoyne, adopted the Articles of Confederation, received the news from Benjamin Franklin at Paris of the decision of the French government to aid the Americans in their struggle for liberty, and issued the first National thanksgiving proclamation.
The President of Congress appointed Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, with Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts, and Gen. Roberdeau, of Pennsylvania, to draft the proclamation. It was written by Mr. Lee, and for its beauty and comprehensiveness, and being the first paper of the kind ever prepared and issued by authority in this country, it will, we are sure, be regarded with interest and veneration. It is as follows :
"For inasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God, to acknowledge, with gratitude, their obligations for benefits received, and to implore such further blessings as they stand in need of; and it having pleased him, in his abundant mercy, not only to continue to us the many blessings of his common providence, but also to smile upon us in the prosecution of just and necessary war, for the defence and establishment of our rights and liberties; particularly that he has been pleased, in so great a measure, to prosper the means used for the support of our troops and to crown our arms with signal success.
"It is, therefore, recommended to the legislatures, or executives, powers of these United States, to set apart Thursday, the 18th of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise; that with one heart and one voice the people of this country may express their grateful reverence, and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor, and that together, with their sincere acknowledgments, they may join in a penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favor, and their humble and earnest supplication may be that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance; that it may please him graciously to shower his blessings on the government of these States, respectively, and to prosper the public council of the whole United States; to inspire our commanders, both by land and sea, and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all blessings—independence and peace; that it may please him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people, and the labor of the husbandman, that our land may yield its increase; to protect schools and seminaries of learning, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety, under his nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of the kingdom which consists of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
"It is further recommended that all servile labor and such recreation as at other times innocent may be unbecoming the purpose of this appointment on so solemn an occasion."
This historic document was adopted by Congress on the 30th of October, 1777, and sent to the governors of the respective States on the 1st of November by the President of the Congress, Henry Lawrens, of South Carolina, who had just been elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Hancock, of Massachusetts.
THE WHISKEY REBELLION.
It was Henry Lee, of Westmoreland county, a Virginian, known through the war for independence as "Light Horse Harry," who, in 1792, crushed out the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania and restored order to the four counties in rebellion. He was at the time Governor of Virginia, and was in command of 15,000 troops, raised by special requisition of President Washington from the States of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. It was this Henry Lee who delivered the funeral oration in Congress on Washington, in which he used those words which will last in history as long as the memory of Washington shall be revered, "He was first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL AND SUPREME COURT.
It was John Marshall, of Fauquier county, a Virginian, who, by his great ability and firmness of character, brought the Supreme Court up from a tribunal of little importance and consequence to one of great dignity and to one equal in power and importance with the executive and legislative branches of the government. He did more—he established not only the fact that the Supreme Court was the proper tribunal to declare what was and what was not law, under the Constitution, but it was to set limits to the powers and prerogatives of the chief executive himself.
In an address on the Supreme Court by Justice Brown in 1890, he said: "The Constitution had been adopted by the vote of the thirteen States of the Union, but its construction was a work scarcely less important than its original creation. With a large liberty of choice, guided by no precedents, and generally unhampered by his colleagues upon the bench, the great Chief Justice (Marshall) determined what was law by what he thought it ought to be, evolved from his own experience of the defects of the Articles of Confederation and from an innate consciousness of what the country required, a theory of construction which time has vindicated and the popular sentiment of succeeding generations has approved. In the case of Marbury against Madison, which arose at his very first term, he declared the judicial power to extend to the annulment of an act of Congress in conflict with the Constitution, a doctrine peculiar to this country, but so commending itself to the common sense of justice as to have been incorporated in the jurisprudence of every State in the Union. The lack of this check upon the action of the Legislature has wrecked the constitution of many a foreign State, and it is safe to say that our own would not have long survived a contrary decision. Had Marshall rendered no other service to the country, this of itself would have been sufficient to entitle him to its gratitude." And Judge A. W. Wallace, writing of Justice Marshall, said : "By his canons of construction he fortified the foundations of the Constitution and built thereon the jurisprudence of the United States—whose opinions, nearly a century old, stand, like a great sea-wall, breasting every billow of political frenzy that has threatened to engulf the safety, permanence and perpetuity of our institutions."
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
It was Thomas Jefferson, of Albemarle county, a Virginian, who wrote the act of the General Assembly of Virginia, passed on the 26th day of December, 1785, establishing religious liberty in Virginia, which has been adopted, or a law of similar import, by every State in the United States, and made a part of the Constitution of the United States, by the first amendment made to that instrument.
It is one of the grandest achievements of Mr. Jefferson, and stamps him as a patriot who could and did rise superior to his environments and surroundings, and even his predilections and life-long attachments, and secure to the people, by a law which he expressed the hope would never be repealed, their rights in matters of conscience as to religion and the worship of their God. It has permeated this whole country, and its influence is felt more or less throughout Christendom, and as a little leaven will leaven the whole lump, so its influence is still at work and time only can tell what it shall accomplish.
The act was written in Fredericksburg, and, omitting the long preamble, which is written in Mr. Jefferson's best and most vigorous style, is as follows : "That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested or burdened, in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities."
THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
It was James Monroe, a native of Westmoreland county, but for years a citizen of Fredericksburg, a Virginian, who announced the American principle, known as the "Monroe Doctrine" that declared that no foreign power should acquire territory on this continent, which has been the guiding principle of the United States government since its enunciation, and which has been the safeguard
to all the governments of this hemisphere.
The Monroe doctrine and the causes that called it forth, are succinctly stated in volume 10 of the "Messages and Papers of the Presidents," and are as follows :— "After the overthrow of Napoleon, France, Russia, Prussia and Austria formed the so-called Holy Alliance in September, 1815, for the suppression of revolutions within each other's dominions and for perpetuating peace. The Spanish colonies in America having revolted, it was rumored that this alliance contemplated their subjugation, although the United States had acknowledged their independence. George Canning, English Secretary of State, proposed that England and America unite to oppose such intervention. On consultation with Jefferson, Madison, John Quincy Adams and Calhoun, Monroe, in his annual message to Congress in 1823, embodied the conclusions of these deliberations in what has since been known as the Monroe Doctrine. Referring to the threatened intervention of the powers, the message declares : 'We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.' "
ESTABLISHED THE YOUNG REPUBLIC.
Not only did Fredericksburg and vicinity furnish the leader of the American armies to victory and independence, and the leading spirit in the navy; not only did they furnish the author of the Declaration' of Independence and the Father of the Constitution, but they furnished the Presidents of the United States for thirty-two years of the most trying and difficult part of the history of the Republic, — it being the formative period of an experiment, — except the four years of John Adams's administration, during which but little, if any, progress was made. Washington was the first President, serving eight years; Jefferson succeeding Adams, who served eight years; then Madison eight years, followed by James Monroe for eight years, thus making the thirty-two years. Besides these four Presidents, Virginia furnished three others, who lived or were born within the circle of seventy-five miles of Fredericksburg, namely, Wm. Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Zachary Taylor. It is rather remarkable that both Harrison and Tyler should have been born in Charles City county, Virginia, elected on the same ticket, Harrison, who had moved to Ohio, as President, and Tyler as Vice-President, the death of the former just one month after his inauguration, elevating Tyler to the Presidency. President Taylor was born in Orange county.
THE GREAT NORTHWEST RECLAIMED.
It was George Rodgers Clarke,[1] of Albemarle county, a Virginian and a Fredericksburg man, by the authority of Virginia's Governor, Patrick Henry, with volunteers from Virginia and Kentucky, explored and conquered the great Northwest Territory. This territory belonged to Virginia under original grant in her charter, but the British at this time held it, 'established strong posts there and encouraged the Indians to make war on the white settlements. The Continental Congress could spare no troops to reclaim this territory, though appealed to by Virginia to do so. For this dangerous task Geo. R. Clarke proffered his services, which were accepted by the Governor. Enlisting volunteers, he marched into that region, and by real ability, rare skill, heroic courage and patience in bearing every hardship and privation, captured Forts Kaskaskia and Vincennes and other posts, and floated the flag of Virginia over the whole of the Northwest Territory, it being designated Illinois county, Virginia.
This campaign cleared that entire country of the British, and secured to Virginia a clear title to that vast territory, out of which the States of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and a part of Minnesota were afterwards carved, and which Virginia gave to the Union as a free-will offering, the most imperial gift that State or nation ever laid on the altar of country. [2]
[1] A son of Jonathan Clarke, who lived at New market, in Spotsylvania county, and afterwards moved to Fredericksburg. For many years he was clerk of the county court of Spotsylvania. George Rodgers Clarke is said to have been born while his father lived at New market. —A letter from a descendant.
[2] Jones's U. S. History.
Senator Daniel W. Voorhees, of Indiana in his defence of Cook, at Charlestown, now West Virginia, in 1859, one of the John Brown raiders, said in his opening remarks : —
"The very soil on which I live, in my western home, was once owned by this venerable Commonwealth, as much as the soil on which I now stand. Her laws there once prevailed, and all her institutions were there established as they are here. Not only my own State of Indiana, but also four other great States in the Northwest, stand as enduring and lofty monuments of Virginia's magnanimity and princely liberality. Her donation to the general government made them sovereign States; and since God gave the fruitful land of Canaan to Moses and Israel, such a gift of present or future empire has never been made to any people."
THE WEST EXPLORED.
It was Meriwether Lewis, of Albemarle, and Wm. Clarke,[1] of Fredericksburg, both Virginians, who explored that great stretch of country from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean, and made it less difficult for John C. Fremont, who afterwards explored the same territory and received the proud appellation of the "Great Path Finder," which appellation rightly belonged to Lewis and Clarke.
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.
It was Thomas Jefferson, of Albemarle county, a Virginian, who, while President of the United States, made the "Louisiana Purchase," which brought to the possession of the United States more than one million square miles of territory. This immense territory belonged to the French government. It embraced the present States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Indian Territory, North and South Dakota, Montana, and parts of Kansas, Minnesota, Wyoming and Colorado. The price paid was $11,250,000 in money and the assumption by the government of debts due our citizens by France, amounting to $3,750,000, making in all $15,000,000.
[1] Cpt. Wm. Clarke was a Fredericksburg man. He was a son of Jonathan Clarke, of Fredericksburg, who was clerk of Spotsylvania county court. He was, therefore, a brother of General Geo. Rodgers Clarke, who conquered the great northwest territory. —A letter from a descendant of Wm. Clarke.
See also Maury's History of Virginia, page 158.
The purchase of this vast territory was bitterly opposed,—as all acquisitions of territory by the United States have been—especially in New England, where they threatened to secede from the Union, if it was consummated, and the legislation of Massachusetts passed and sent to the President and Speaker of the House a resolution to the effect that they would consider the adding of the Louisiana territory, to the domain of the United States, just cause for exercising their right of secession.[1]
THE FLORIDA PURCHASE.
It was James Monroe, of Fredericksburg, a Virginian, who purchased Florida from the Spanish government for $5,000,000, a land of "Fruits and Flowers/' and a favorite health resort for winter tourists from all parts of the country. Its Spanish name Pascua Florida, translated, means Flowery Easter, which indicates that in Florida the flower season is perpetual.
ACQUISITION OF TEXAS.
It was Sam Houston, of Rockbridge county, a Virginian, who wrested the great State of Texas from Mexico and afterwards ceded it to the United States, John Tyler, of Charles City county, a Virginian, signing the bills for its admission three days before his presidential term ended. By this acquisition the government added to its possessions territory sufficient, it is said, to furnish comfortable homes for the present population of the United States, which would then be less crowded than many of the States of Europe.
THE MEXICAN WAR.
It was Gen. Winfield Scott, of Dinwiddie county, a Virginian, and Gen. Zachary Taylor (“Rough and Ready”), of Orange county, also a Virginian, who subdued Mexico, by which there were added to the territory of the United States the great States of California, Arizona and New Mexico.
[1] Jones's U. S. History.
And thus it will be seen, that all of the territory acquired by the United States Government, from the union of the colonies for the common defence to the purchase of Alaska, except the Gadsden purchase, was secured through Virginians, who were born and raised, and many of them at the time lived, in or near Fredericksburg. The convention president, Matthew Fontaine Maury of Virginia, preferred strict private financing, whereas John Bell and others thought that Federal land grants to railroad developers would be necessary.
COMMODORE M. F. MAURY.
It was Matthew Fontaine Maury, of Spotsylvania county, and later a resident of Fredericksburg, a Virginian, who marked out the tracks of speed and safety for mariners of every clime over the ocean's bosom, and showed the beds on the bottom of the seas, where the (Atlantic Cable) cable lines now safely lie, of whom all the officers of the maritime nations came to learn, on whom kings and emperors bestowed orders, medals and decorations, and of whom the great Humboldt said he had created a new science (Physcial Geography of the Sea).
The following paper, on this great man's life, character and achievements, to whom the world is so greatly indebted, was prepared by Rev. J. S. Dill, D. D., then a resident of this place, and pastor of the Baptist church, for this volume :
"On the 14th of January, 1806, only ten miles from the city of Fredericksburg, in the county of Spotsylvania, was born Matthew Fontaine Maury. He came of goodly stock, for there mingled in his nature, in equal parts, the sturdy religious life of the French Huguenots and the gallantry of the English Cavalier. On his mother's side he belonged to the Minor family, of Virginia, while his name testifies that his paternal ancestors were among those who. from the persecutions of France, stretched their arms to the New World.
"When Maury was five years old, his parents emigrated to Tennessee and settled near the present town of Franklin. Thus, in the primeval forests of Tennessee, far away from the ocean's tuneful chant, there grew up the lad, who was to become 'The Pathfinder of the Seas.'
"The early educational advantages of young Maury were but scant. An accident, disqualifying him for farm service, gave him. his best opportunity at an academy, and this he did not fail to use.
Maury looked to the army for a profession, but his parents denied him. When, without their knowledge, he then secured his appointment to the navy, they again objected, and he left home without his father's blessing. In 1825, an inland lad of nineteen years, Maury was assigned to duty as a midshipman on the Brandywine. It became evident that he had resolved to master his profession, and his promotion was rapid. In 1831 he was appointed master of the sloop of war Falmouth, which was ordered to Pacific waters. Diligently he sought information as to the best track for his vessel. Finding no reliable chart for his guidance, he realized the need of such help and his mind began at once to grapple with that problem, the solution of which afterwards immortalized him.
WONDERFUL WORKS ON NAVIGATION.
"At home for a time in 1834, he was married to Miss Ann Hull Herndon, of Fredericksburg, and from this time on we find much of his family life woven into the history of our city. On Charlotte street, between Princess Ann and Prince Edward, still stands the house where he lived and his children were born. At this time he published his first book— a 'Treatise on Navigation'—which for many years, even after the Civil war, was made a text book in the naval academy at Annapolis. His pen now became active in newspaper articles that startled the country, and there even arose a sentiment to elevate him to the portfolio of Secretary of the Navy.
"In the fall of 1839, by the upsetting of the stage in which he was travelling, his knee was severely fractured. But this untoward accident, under the guiding hand of God, put him into the very position in which he was to perform his life-work. His lame leg being unseaworthy, he was placed in charge of the 'Depot of Charts and Instruments,' at Washington. Here he grasped his great opportunity. Here, at the capital of the nation, he wrought for twenty years, and these two decades, from 1841 to 1861, mark the high tide of his service to the world.
"At Washington, Maury found the vast accumulation of the log books' of the United States warships, stored away as mere rubbish. This he utilized as valuable data. He also set in operation plans for still more complete and accurate collections of all kinds of hydrographic and meteorological observations. With all this before him, with pains-taking toil, he prepared his wonderful 'charts and sailing directions.' His work took ultimate form in a series of six 'charts' and eight large folio volumes of 'sailing directions’ and these comprehended all waters, in every clime, where fly the white sails of civilized commerce.
"The charts exhibit, with wonderful accuracy, the winds and currents, their force and direction, at different seasons, the temperature of the surface waters, the calm belts and trade winds, the rains and the storms. The eight volumes of 'sailing directions,' are brim full of the most valuable nautical information, and are perfect treasures to the intelligent seaman. This effected a revolution in the art of navigation. The practical result was that the most difficult of all sea voyages—that from New York to San Francisco, around Cape Horn—has been shortened by forty days; and it has been estimated, that in shortening the time and lessening the dangers of sea voyages, there has been a saving to the world's commerce of not less than $40,000,000 annually.
"In writing about these sea routes he has mapped out, Maury has this to say : 'So to shape the course on voyages as to make the most of winds and currents at sea, is the perfection of the navigator's art. How the winds blow and the currents flow along this route or that, is no longer matter of opinion or speculation. The wind and the weather, daily encountered by hundreds, who have sailed the same voyage before him, have been tabulated for the mariner; nay, his path has been literally blazed for him on the sea; mile posts have been set upon the waves, and finger-boards planted and time-tables furnished for the trackless waste.'
"The simple 'Depot of Charts and Instruments,' over which Maury was placed, soon became the 'National Observatory,' with this man of genius as its superintendent. The vast work was international and, in 1853, brought about the great Brussels conference. On his return from this conference, laden with honors, Maury stood before the world as the founder of the twin sciences of Hydrography and Meteorology. No less a man than Alexander von Humboldt declared him the founder of a new science.
FOUNDER OF WEATHER BUREAU.
"The limits of this sketch forbid more than a bare mention of the many other directions in which the genius of this wonderful man blessed the world. The great Atlantic cable, that flashes the news from continent to continent, is one of the radiant sparks that flew from his anvil as he wrought. Cyrus Field declared, at its completion, 'Maury furnished the brains, England gave the money, I did the work.' He established the river gauges of the Mississippi and the daily observations that give our best knowledge of that great river. He established the great circle routes for ocean steamship travel, and the 'steam laws' now used in ocean travel are his. He applied his system of meteorology to land as well as sea, and outlined the work of the 'signal service' and 'weather bureau' of to-day.
"The 'National Observatory,' under Maury, comprehended in all essential particulars what now is divided into no less than four departments at Washington. In 1855 Maury published his popular work 'The Physical Geography of the Sea and its Meteorology.' The work has passed through twenty editions, and has found its way into the languages of Continental Europe. It is the very poetry of his great science, analyzing and tabulating millions of observations of the sea—its currents and its climates, its winds and rains and storms, its myriads of animal life, and marvellous formations of shore-lines and bottoms—he found his way to the heart of nature and laid before us, like an open book, her majestic laws. And never did scientific man touch nature in more devout spirit. In all he saw the handiwork of God. Investigations into the broad-spreading circle of phenomena, connected with the winds of heaven and the waves of the sea, never failed to lift his mind to the Creator. As he pondered these things, he heard a voice in every wave that clapped its hand, he felt a pressure in every breeze that blew, he knelt and worshipped God.
STOOD WITH THE SOUTH.
"The life of Maury fell on times when there were at work other currents than those of sea and river. Political passions blew to a gale and the nation drifted to Civil war. His supreme sense of duty, and loyalty to his own State, was the current that bore him away from Washington and stranded him in the final wreck of the Southern Confederacy. In those unhappy times no man sacrificed more than Maury. He not only resigned his high position at Washington, but turned his back upon tempting offers from Russia and France, in order to suffer affliction with his own people. In the Civil war he rendered most valuable service by introducing submarine torpedo warfare, and inventing a sure method of explosion by electricity. Much of his time was spent in England purchasing navy supplies and perfecting inventions in navy warfare.
'"After the war, Maury turned to Mexico and joined his fortunes to the Emperor Maximilian; but the tragic end of this friend and patron, again left him stranded. When, in 1868, the enactment of a general amnesty removed his political disabilities, Maury accepted the Chair of Meteorology in the Virginia Military Institute, and there spent the closing years of his life. He greatly rejoiced in this return to old friends and scenes, and addressed himself with ardor to congenial pursuits. But a constitution, not the strongest, gave way to the storms of the last years. The middle of October, 1872, on his return from a fatiguing lecture tour, as he crossed his threshold he said I am come home to die. For four long months he lay weak and suffering. The end came on the 1st of February, 1873. A heavenly breeze bore him to the anchorage beyond the sea, and the trusting child of nature rested with his God.
"Than Matthew Fontaine Maury no American has received higher honors from foreign countries. Orders of Knighthood were bestowed upon him by the Emperor of Russia, King of Denmark, King of Portugal, King of Belgium, and the Emperor of France ; while Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Holland, Sardinia, Bremen and France, struck gold medals in his honor The Pope sent him a full set of all the medals struck during his pontificate; Maximilian decorated him with 'The Cross of Our Lady Guadeloupe;' while Germany bestowed upon him the great 'Cosmos Medal’ struck in honor of Von Humboldt. It is the only duplicate of that medal in existence. He became corresponding member of more literary and scientific circles, and received more honorary diplomas, at home and abroad, than any other man known to history.
"Our own National Government has failed to honor his memory by appropriate memorial, yet his name is so woven with his great science that it must live. The Hon. Mellin Chamberlain, late Librarian of Congress, in calm judicial tone, has declared, 'I do not suppose there is the least doubt that Maury was the greatest man America has ever produced.'
"A bill to honor Commodore Maury, with an appropriate monument, lies mouldering in the archives of Congress. It will some day see the light. During the last years of Maury's life the smoke of a great conflict gathered about him and hid his face from the National Government; but the smoke is fast lifting, and the healthy breezes of a great national fraternity will soon blow it far away. Then his nation will look upon his face and see the clear outlines of his character—then will he take his own proper place in America's galaxy of the great."
THE LADIE’S MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION.
It was in Fredericksburg, and by the ladies of Fredericksburg, Virginians, that the first memorial association was organized and chartered for looking after the dead soldiers, for providing them a final resting place in some convenient cemetery laid out for the purpose, and strewing their graves with the first flowers of spring as the years pass by. This was their second care after their return to their homes at the close of the Civil war, their first being their own homes, which were almost in ruins; and since the organization of that memorial association no season of flowers has passed that these graves have not been piously remembered.
MARY WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
It was the ladies of Fredericksburg, Virginians, who inaugurated the move, and carried it on to complete success, to raise a monument to a woman, the tallest and most imposing of its kind that is to be found on this continent. It towers over fifty feet high, the shaft is solid granite, and it marks the grave of the greatest of American women — Mary, the mother of Washington. It is true, that after the work was commenced, the plans laid, and some money raised, the ladies were assisted by the National Mary Washington Monument Association, which did good service, but even that association, brought into being through the local association at Fredericksburg, was made more active and efficient by the energy and persistence of the pioneers in the movement. That monument is grand and beautiful, and reaches high into the heavens, and while it marks the last resting place of that sainted woman, it reflects great honor upon all the ladies who assisted in its erection.
These are some of the things in which Virginians took the lead and which were accomplished by them. There may be omissions of noble acts and brave deeds that might have been mentioned of whose existence we are in ignorance, but these we have mentioned will suffice to show that they were the leading spirits in throwing off the British yoke of oppression, in uniting the colonies for common defence, in proclaiming to the world our grievances and declaring for freedom, in waging a long and bloody war and securing independence, in forming and conducting the government from its infancy through its experimental period, in extending its territorial limits and in contributing to its national greatness. If for all this—if for what has been achieved by their ancestors in field and forum, on land and sea, an honest pride should well up in the breast of the Virginians of the living present, that should find expression in words, where is the individual that can rise up and charge them with vain boasting ?