Page:Historic towns of the southern states (1900).djvu/205

 "O Richmond! Richmond! Richmond!   Upon thy seven hills Like one of old, we wot of well    Thy fame the wide world fills."

In 1842, when Dickens visited Richmond, it already covered yet another hill, and he wrote of it as

"delightfully situated on eight hills overhanging James River, a sparkling stream studded here and there with bright islands, or brawling over broken rocks. There are pretty villas and cheerful houses on its streets, and nature smiles upon the country 'round."

The oldest house in Richmond, the "Old Stone House," situated on Main Street, was built by Jacob Ege in 1737, and is now used as a museum filled with relics and curiosities.

St. John's Episcopal Church, which was built in 1740, is in a state of excellent preservation, and religious services are held in it as they were in the days before the Revolution. It was built under the superintendence of Richard Randolph of Curls Neck, the son of William Randolph of Turkey Island and Jane Bolling, the great-great-granddaughter of Pocahontas. In its graveyard are many quaint old tomb-*stones—the oldest, that of the Rev. Robert