Col. John Wise of England and Virginia (1617-1695)

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. And so, if any man scoff at me because I present the unbroken history Of ten generations of the men Of my name in Virginia, I care not for his sneers. This record is not compiled for him, but for my children, and my brothers' children, and their children, and grandchildren, who will, in the course of nature, increase in numbers with each succeeding generation. Some Of them will be made better men by an intimate knowledge of their father's father and his father before him, unto the first generation of his family in America. Indeed, as I write these words, I try to picture the eleventh and the twelfth and the thirteenth generations, and find myself wondering if these children Of the future will find the meaning of America more real by reason of what I.have written as I have found Virginia. Or will the spirit of America, as my great-grandfathers, Wise, and Cropper, and Sergeant, and Douglas knew it, be but a tender tradition with them as the spirit of Old Virginia is fast becoming even with the Virginians of to day? My speculations on this point have led me to see that there is senti ment in the contemplation of the future as well as in reflection on the past, and my heart grows sick when I ponder the possibility that Columbia, in the cruel process Of evolution, may wear for a time the dazzling crown of power, only to have it rust upon her head as it did upon Old Virginia's.