Stranica 29 [29]
OCR
ee HisToRic GARDENS OF VIRGINIA =< ui ——— — of stage coaches and boxwood gardens. Its leafy streets and lanes have charmed travelers from many countries. One of these, the Marquis de Chastellux, wrote in his diary in 1780: “‘The chief magnificence of the Virginians consists in furniture, linen and plate; in which they resemble our ancestors who had neither cabinets nor wardrobes in their castles, but contented themselves with a wellstored cellar, and a handsome buftet. If they sometimes dissipate their fortunes it is by gaming, hunting and horse races; but the latter are of some utility, inasmuch as they encourage the breed of horses which are really very handsome in Virginia.”’ Standing in the spring sunlight in the Williamsburg of today and shutting our eyes to the growing city, what lover of history can not obtain glimpses of the panorama of the past. JIhrough its old garden gates many historic figures pass—Colonial governors with lords and ladies from foreign shores; awkward Patrick Henry with his tongue of silver fire; John Marshall, [Thomas Jefterson and Richard Henry Lee. ‘Then Washington, LaFayette and Rochambeau; Cornwallis the conquered, and Tarleton, too. And in the days of the early Republic, Madison and James Monroe. Since their brave day nearly every president of the United States has, at some time, visited the picturesque town. The most important thoroughfare, Duke of Gloucester Street, begins at William and Mary College, to end at the Palace Green. Using this as a central or starting point, a quiet ramble through the little town will repay one with interest and patriotic thrills, as each street has its particular story; around every corner, about each nook, is woven a web of historical associations that bring from the dustiest memory an answering appreciation. And, though some of its dwellers have modestly said, “There are no gardens in Williamsburg,” this ramble along shady streets and about centuryold houses will prove that in the springtime, at least, the whole of the town is one beautiful, old-fashioned garden. The Palace Green, lying just on the east of old Bruton @hurch has given way to a school building, which was constructed of the [20]
