_A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of Virginia, and the District of
Columbia: containing a copious collection of Geographical,
Statistical, Political, Commercial, Religious, Moral and Miscellaneous
Information, collected and compiled from the most respectable, and
chiefly from original sources; by Joseph Martin. To which is added a
History of Virginia from its first settlement to the year 1754: with
an abstract of the principal events from that period to the
independence of Virginia, written expressly for the work, by a citizen
of Virginia. Charlottesville: Published by Joseph Martin. 1835._
We ought to have noticed this book sooner. Mr. Martin deserves well of
the country for having laid the foundation, amidst numerous obstacles,
of a work of great utility and importance. In his preface, he disavows
all pretension to literary attainment, and claims only the merit of
enterprise and perseverance in the execution of his design. He is
entitled to all the rewards of a bold pioneer, struggling with
pecuniary difficulties, and, we might add, with public indifference,
in amassing a large amount of valuable information--interesting to
almost every man in the Commonwealth. It is one of the evils attendant
upon a high state of political excitement in any country, that what is
really and substantially good, is forgotten or neglected. The
resources of our great Commonwealth are immense, and if we could once
get the public mind into a condition favorable to their full
development, the most important consequences might be expected to
follow. Societies and associations for collecting information in the
various departments of moral and physical science, have abounded in
most countries having the least pretension to civilization; and even
in some of the States of our confederacy, it is known that an
enlightened spirit of inquiry exists on the same subject. Our own
state indeed, boastful as it is of its early history, the renown of
some of its sons, and its abundant natural advantages, has
nevertheless, we are pained to admit, manifested too little of that
public spirit which has animated other communities. Of late, indeed,
some signs have been exhibited of a more liberal and resolute course
of action, and we are not without hope that these efforts will be
crowned by highly useful and practical results.
It is because Mr. Martin has been obliged to rely principally upon
individual contributions, in order to obtain which he must necessarily
have used great diligence, and submitted to much pecuniary sacrifice,
that we think him entitled to a double portion of praise. Few
individuals would, under such circumstances, have incurred the risk of
failure; and our wonder is, not that the work is not perfect, but
that, contending with so many disadvantages, it should have so nearly
accomplished what has been long a _desideratum_ in Virginia
literature. Our limits will not permit any thing like a minute
analysis of its contents. The arrangement of the volume strikes us as
superior to the ordinary alphabetical plan; and although there is much
repetition even in its present form, much more we think has been
avoided. That part of the General Description of the State, which
especially treats of the climate, is admirably well written; and,
considering the scantiness of the author's materials, owing to the
general neglect of meteorological observations in Virginia, his
reasoning is clear, forcible, and philosophical. In the Sketch which
is given of the county of Louisa, we think we can recognize a pen
which has not unfrequently adorned the pages of the "Messenger"--and
the History of the State from its earliest settlement, appended to the
work, is written with vigor and ability, and, as far as we can judge,
with accuracy. If Mr. Martin is sustained by public liberality, which
we earnestly hope will be the case, he will not only be enabled, in
the next edition, to correct such imperfections as may be found to
exist in the present, but to engraft a large amount of additional
information, derived from authentic sources. The report of Professor
Rogers, for example, on the Geology of Virginia, made to the present
Legislature, will shed much light on the mineral resources of the
State; and the report of the President and Directors of the Literary
Fund, embracing as it does, detailed information with respect to all
our literary institutions, will greatly illustrate the means in
operation for diffusing the blessings and benefits of education. The
statistical tables, too, can be revised and corrected in another
edition; and we doubt not that many individuals into whose hands the
work may fall, will voluntarily contribute such suggestions and
improvements as their means of information will authorize. Such a work
to the man of business, and to the traveller, and indeed to the
general reader, is invaluable, and we heartily recommend it to public
patronage.