Here, then, is the new Richmond, riding stoutly upon her great hills and shooting the tendrils of her growth in every direction. For she is growing, rapidly and handsomely. Her new buildings--her wonderful cathedral, her superb modern hotels, the fine homes multiplying out by the Lee statue--what self-respecting southern town does not have a Lee statue--all bespeak the quality of her growth. But her new buildings cannot easily surpass the old. It was rare good judgment in an American town for her to refrain from tearing down or even "modernizing" that Greek temple that stands atop of Schokoe hill and which generations have known as the Capitol. The two flanking wings which were made absolutely necessary by the awakening of the Old Dominion have not robbed the older portion of the building of one whit of its charm. It typifies the Old South and the New South, come to stand beside one another. In other days Virginia was proud of her capital, it was with no small pride that she thrust it ahead when a seat of government was to be chosen for the Confederacy, that for a little time she saw it take its stormy place among the nations of the world. In these days Virginia may still be proud of her capital town--it is still a seat of government quite worthy of a state of pride and of traditions. 8 WHERE ROMANCE AND COURTESY DO NOT FORGET "You are not going to write your book and leave out Charleston?" said the Man who Makes Magazines. We hesitated at acknowledging the truth. In some way or other Charleston had escaped us upon our travels. The Magazine Maker read our answer before we could gain strength to make it. "Well, you can't afford to miss that town," he said conclusively. "It's great stuff." "Great stuff?" we ventured. "If you are looking into the personality of American cities you must include Charleston. She has more personality than any of the other old Colonial towns--save Boston. She's personality personified, old age glorified, charm and sweetness magnified--the flavor of the past hangs in every one of her old houses and her narrow streets. You cannot pass by Charleston." After that we went over to a railroad ticket office in Fifth avenue and purchased a round-trip ticket to the metropolis of South Carolina. And a week later we were on a southbound train, running like mad across the Jersey meadows. Five days in Charleston! It seemed almost sacrilege. Five miserable days in the town which the Maker of Magazines averred fairly oozed personality. But five days were better than no days at all--and Charleston must be included in this book.