Richmond the Southern Capital.
May 23.--The Capital of the Southern Confederacy is to be removed to
Richmond.
A more admirable location could not be found.
Its beautiful and commanding position, its facilities for ready communication with all parts of the
South, its healthful climate, and its obvious advantages in a military point of view, commend the soundness of the selection which has been made.
Nature seems to have designed
Richmond for the central seat of a great empire.
Its advantages for commercial and manufacturing greatness are unrivalled on this continent.
As the
Capital of the Old Dominion, it has claims which will appeal to multitudes of Southern hearts.
Virginia may not have been first in the present Southern movement, but she was first in the great movement which established the liberties and independence of
America, and she is behind no other in maintaining a position which she has once assumed.
If a majority of Union men was at one time found in her borders, it is no less true that, when the real purposes of
Lincoln were made known to
Virginia, that majority, with exceptions so few and contemptible that they do not deserve to be noticed, threw themselves at once in solid mass into the front rank of resistance, where they may now be found, as every camp will testify, and this day's vote will prove, as intrepid and as loyal friends of Southern independence as gallant
South Carolina ever was in the hottest days of secession.
We shall welcome with great pleasure the arrival in
Richmond of that eminent body of statesmen and soldiers who compose the
Montgomery Government.
The President,
Jefferson Davis, is a tower of strength in himself.
He has the iron will of
Andrew Jackson, all of
Jackson's nerve, energy, and decision, and even more than his military knowledge and general education.
Indeed, apart from his great qualities as a commander, he is a statesman in every way qualified to guide the helm of the ship of State in the wildest storm that ever swept the ocean.
He has not only great foresight, judgment, and fertility of resources, but a wonderful composure of spirit, keeping self-poised and self-possessed in the most agitating moments; and there is about the man, evident in every line of the firm and lofty countenance, an elevation of soul which attests him a gentleman, and commands universal respect and confidence.
A brilliant civic and military staff will probably accompany the
President, including, perhaps, the famous
Beauregard, who, we understand, will soon take command on an important line of operations in
Virginia.
Our city, therefore, bids fair to become, before long, a scene of stirring interest, worthy of inaugurating the magnificent history of the future Capital of the Southern Confederacy.--
Richmond (
Va.)
Dispatch, May 23.
