Part 12 (1/2)

CHAPTER XII

_Baltimore_

On the 25th of October, I made several farewell visits, and went on board the steam-boat Baltimore at twelve o'clock, to leave the dear Philadelphia to which I had become so much attached Mr Tromp had set out several days before, to meet the Pallas at Norfolk The President of the United States came on board of the steaentlemen from town At the steam-boat wharf, a crowd of citizens had asseovernentof well-dressed individuals, cheered the president, who re time uncovered We descended the Delaware about forty e; the shores are flat, and apparently well cultivated The president had the kindness to converse a long time with me

I was here introduced to a Mr Sullivan, from Boston, who seemed to be arrison of Halifax, as travelling for his pleasure

I also met with Mr De Salazar, ambassador from Colombia, with his secretary, Mr Goon: I had already entle conversation, and the ave me much pleasure

We arrived at New Castle between four and five o'clock; this is a well-built little town, situated on the right shore of the river, in the state of Delaware, whence it is sixteen miles to Frenchtown by land, where the Chesapeake stea in one of the stages, the drivers went on eneral sandy, and ran through woods; we did not perceive any villages, as it soon beca the scenery ceased Frenchtown is a little place, which was burnt and plundered during the last war, by the British Admiral cockburn We went on board the steam-boat Constitution

This boat was very spacious, and furnished with beds, theht and the woody shores of the river, produced a very fine effect I re time on deck in conversation with Captain Maclean; no rest could be obtained in bed, as, in addition to the noise of the machinery, six horses trampled just above me on deck, and a German mechanic, as unable to sleep, talked to hi at Baltie for Washi+ngton, which is only thirty-six reater part of the travellers remained in bed until between six and seven o'clock I went through the soular streets to the hotel, called the Indian Queen, where lodgings had been prepared for me Here I had the pleasure to meet Sir Michael Clare and his lady; shortly after ens, son to the Chevalier Bangeens, aton, officer of our artillery, and attached to the legation His father had the politeness to place this young gentleman at my disposal As soon as I was established in the hotel, I went out in company with Sir Michael, in order to see the curiosities of the city The town is of a regular construction, and contains, as I was assured, seventy-five thousand inhabitants Great projects are for its prosperity; these projects, however, have been somewhat stopped by some considerable failures This place has increased with almost incredible rapidity; in the year 1752, there were only ten houses The streets are wide, with foot-walks, some of them are planted as in Philadelphia, with poplar trees The city seeroes in the streets The state of Maryland is the first on which I set ally s is every where coive opinions on so delicate a subject Still my journey convinced s not sufficiently knohich we have neither seen nor exaton Monument, situated on a hill

It is, or rather will be, erected by the state of Maryland; it consists of a coluh, it is to be adorned with bas-reliefs of bronze, representing scenes from the life of the hero On the top of the colureat ; and therefore these ornaments are not yet finished We ascended the column by a spiral staircase of two hundred and twenty-six steps, but did not enjoy a fine prospect, on account of the misty atmosphere We visited another monument, erected to the memory of the citizens who fell in the defence of Baltimore on the 12th of Septe a bundle of staves The names of the fallen citizens are inscribed on the ribands which unite them On the top is the statue of victory; at the four corners of the pedestal, griffins We re which, souished The handsomest is the Catholic cathedral, the dome of which, is similar to that of the Roman pantheon The interior of this church is richly ornareater part of which, arrived during the French revolution The handso them is a descent fro to an inscription, was presented to the church by Louis XVIII at the request of Count Menou It is to be regretted that its size does not permit it to be placed over the altar It was suspended near the entrance King Charles X is said to have promised the companion to this piece I was introduced in the church to the archbishop of Baltimore, M Marechal,[I-27] who is the Catholic primate of the United States He is a native of France, and has resided in the United States since 1792, whither he first came as a missionary He is spoken of as a reat simplicity; he is of small stature, and animated When he first addressed me, with his book under his arm, I took him for a French teacher, but he very soon presented himself to me as the archbishop

[Footnote I-27: [Since deceased]--TRANS]

The state of Maryland contains the greatest number of Catholics, with the exception of the state of Louisiana and Florida, where the Catholics, on account of their wealth have some influence Not far distant from the cathedral is the Unitarian church, tastefully ornamented on the exterior with colulish Episcopal church is likewise not far distant; it has a colonade at the entrance, but a spire without the least taste The front of the church is ornamented with two statues, of the Saviour and Moses, by an Italian sculptor, (still living here,) Mr Capellano It is reported that the inhabitants of Balti very ed to take them off Certain it is, that the Moses on this church does not wear these orna of recent construction, called the Athenaeum, which was built by subscription We found there a slish newspapers, and a concert rooe A few hours after this promenade, Sir Michael and Lady Clare set out for Now York, whence they intended to embark for Jamaica To them I was indebted for an introduction to Dr Macauley, a respectable physician, whose acquaintance was the reeable to me, as I found him to be an accomplished man In his company I rode to Fort M'Henry; this fort is situated two miles from Baltimore, at the latter extremity of the isthmus formed by the eastern and western arms of the Patapsco, which empties into the Chesapeake Bay This fort was rendered interesting by the repulse of an attack made by the British the 12th of September, 1814, by water; this well-sustained defence contributed lish disembarked their troops on the eastern shore of the Patapsco--these were to attack the city by land, meanwhile the fleet was to boeneral, Ross, was killed, met with such resistance from the citizens that they were compelled to retire with considerable loss; the attack on Fort M'Henry had no better success The English bomb-shi+ps were anchored too far from the fort to allow the shells to do e froht, which, by aid of the darkness, passed the fort, and entered the western branch of the Patapsco But they were discovered in time, and repelled by the batteries situated above the fort The fort itself is very son with five little bastions, where at uns can be mounted; in front of the entrance is a little ravelin which defends nothing There is no counterscarp; the ramparts are sodded The fort is separated froht rather prove injurious than advantageous Near the water's edge there is a battery which can containover the beach There are also so cannon balls It was this battery which offered the greatest resistance to the British It contained heavy guns for to a French man of hich were served by American sailors One thousand five hundred le boazine, and notwithstanding, not more than thirty ineers have erected boate, as well as a boazine, and a bomb-proof roof over the pump The fort is in a decayed condition, and is to be abandoned on account of its uniineers intend to construct new fortifications several miles farther off in the Chesapeake Bay Moreover, the situation of this fort is so unhealthy that the garrison leave it during the summer From this spot there is a fine view of both branches of the Patapsco, on whose shores the trees in their autuated leaves presented a very handso, we ascended one of the hills co the city, where we enjoyed a beautiful prospect An observatory situated here, announces the arrival of shi+ps in the bay by signals

Dr Macauley showed e, constructed at the expense of the state of Maryland, a spacious and handso, decorated with a portico It contains an ahted rotunda for anatomical lectures, a semi-amphitheatre for chemical lectures, to which are joined a laboratory and a cabinet with philosophical apparatus The anatomical cabinet did not appear to be very rich, as the school is yet in its infancy I re a rupture of the uterus, and several human embrios, abortions, and monsters I saw likewise a considerable collection ofwhich I saluted as an old acquaintance, a basaltic coluiant's causeway in Ireland Seven professors lecture in thefour months, froe is an infir to this institution, where the sick are nursed by an order of religious women called sisters of charity

The Baltimore Museum was established by the second son of the same artist, C W Peale, who founded the Philadelphia Museum His sons were destined from their cradle to become artists, as their Christian names are Rafaelle, Rubens, titian, &c One of the saloons of the s of Rembrandt Peale He succeeds very well in so the teinals, especially in his full length equestrian portrait of Napoleon Several paintings in miniature, by Miss Peale, niece of C W Peale, are tolerably good

The museum is not so extensive as that of Philadelphia; still it contains so objects, which however, I had not tied in two stories of the buildings; the first contains various quadrupeds and birds, I perceived a specimen of the duck-bill anienous, and are described in Wilson's Ornithology The collection of A thee scorpions, and thebird These insects are well preserved in frames of white plaster The plaster is cast on moulds, the insect is put into the cavity, and fastened by pins stuck in the plaster while it is sufficiently hot to destroy the moths which may have entered the cavity; finally, they are hermetically secured beneath watch crystals There is also a handsome collection of Indian antiquities, weapons and other objects; areat nu the Tuscaroras; farther, a great number of toys, and other trifles; a skeleton of the mastodon, but not so complete as the one in Philadelphia, for, but the lower jaw bone[I-28] is particularly well preserved; teeks previous towith the chain by which it had been suspended fro, and had broken in two

[Footnote I-28: [This is the only perfect lower jaw of the mastodon _ever_ found, and the lover of Natural History ret the extreme carelessness of the proprietor or superintendent of the Baltimore Museum, which has allowed so valuable a specimen to be mutilated The London Medical Society was once in treaty for this jaw bone, at the price of three hundred guineas]--TRANS]

There is also here, a very handsoretted that so ed, and separated from mere trifles The city library was founded by subscription; it contains about fifteen thousand volumes; I asked to see Humboldt's splendid work on Mexico; the library does not contain any thing very remarkable Mr Thomas, a Friend, one of the philanthropic public characters to whom I was introduced by Mr Vaux, of Philadelphia, conducted me to a steam-mill, situated near the basin It see, especially in Flanders, where running water is so scarce The machine which land, and is of sixty horse-power

This ht pair of stones, of which there are coeneral is done by ine; a long and horizontal chest leads from the interior of the rain lie; from the vessel, the wheat is poured in one of the extreth a spiral screw runs, which by turning brings the grain to a large reservoir in the mill By another piece of machinery the wheat is conveyed to the upper part of the house and thrown into a wire cylinder, where it is perfectly fanned, and is thence conducted to the hoppers; the flour falls into a co h to a place where it is spread by a horizontally revolving rake, to be cooled; after this it runs by a spout to the ground floor, where it is packed in oaken barrels A work forh it, underneath a wooden block, which acted upon by a lever presses the flour into the barrel; this block, after being sponged in the coain ready for immediate use Two hundred barrels of superfine flour can be furnished daily by this ht and day; twelve workmen are sufficient to attend to all the operations The owner said he could do with fewer, but was unwilling to disine has three boilers, one is unemployed, to be cleaned and to be in reserve in case of an accident; from the roof of the mill there is a fine prospect over the city and harbour

Mr Thomas, who is one of the trustees, accompanied us to the Alms-house, nearly three o, at the expense of the state of Maryland The house consists in a centre building, co of the superintendent, office, and store-house; farther off are two insulated wings, the one for the men, the other for the feht to the Alms-house by their parents, or they are the children of disorderly parents taken up by public authority Several of the paupers are intrusted with the care of these unfortunate creatures; two schoolary, and lived as paupers in the house, taught theret, that they were both are airy rooms, the sick excepted, who are in separate infir; each one has a separate bed Some infirm females only were in separate apart has three stories and one under ground, containing the kitchen, the wash-house, and bake-house; the bread used here is white and very good Their meals are excellent: four tietables; and on Fridays, as there are e court-yards, with all the shops necessary for several arden and all its dependencies of husbandry

It is situated on an elevated ground of cleared woods, a considerable nu to it, are cultivated by the poor

They are eth and capacity, particularly in working for the house and intheir clothes All the articles not used by the establish the house, is shorn, takes a bath, and is clothed For his clothes he becomes a debtor to the establishment, and cannot be dismissed until he has paid for them by his labour The directors decide at this ti in an honest e Those who conduct themselves ill in the house are punished by solitary confine the house, two physicians, who are attached to the establishment, visit them daily and alternately; four students, also, froe in the house, and two of them are constantly present For lunatics there are appropriate cells on the ground-floor

I ice in the Catholic Cathedral, the first tioodto this church, and I had no occasion to repent it At the beginning of the service, I re perceived, was conducted to a pew near the altar The archbishop was sitting on an elevated chair, under a canopy The ood, both in composition and execution There were ladies attached to the choir, and it was a lady who played the organ The charity serood, was very edifying This text had been chosen to ation, in behalf of the Catholic poor-school Several days after, I returned to the Cathedral, in coation, and who had lately been married here,) to see Dr Fenwick consecrated bishop of Boston The church was crowded; it ith difficulty we obtained seats in a gallery opposite to the choir A mass, composed by Cimarosa, was executed under the direction of Mr H Gilles, in a oodtime The best female voices were those of Mrs French, Mrs

Gilles, and Miss Olivia Donaldson, sister-in-law to Mr Vallenilla The cere I remained from ten o'clock until two, P M

and then left the church; the service continued until three o'clock The archbishop himself officiated, _in pontificalibus_, with a ilded crosier-staff He was served by the bishops of Charleston and Philadelphia, ore land, delivered a long ser Irish accent, of which I did not understand much, except that he drew a coood Catholic: he spoke with much vehemence, and was very declamatory It is said that this prelate is one of the pillars of the Romish church, in the United States

I found the society very agreeable in Balti was unceremonious, and the conversation very instructive and lively; the evening parties afforded excellentvery well It was at one of these evening parties, given by Mr Henry Gilles, that I made the acquaintance of General Bernard and his lady, Baroness Serchenfeld of Bavaria His acquaintance gave reat pleasure I found hi Mr Thoht years old, and in full possession of histi other topics, he related to me, that he had seen the spot which the city of Baltimore now occupies, a forest inhabited by Indians

CHAPTER XIII