_"I recollect it well, and loved the time,
When we were wont to meet: when last we met
I parted from you for this western clime,
With the deep feeling never to forget.
In the quick bustle of the busy throng,
I feel that I shall miss ye, O! how long!
The generous hearts who mann'd my spirit on--
Who sooth'd me when I lost and cheer'd me when I won."_
I have both rhyme and reason for remembering my young friends of
Baltimore. More frank, fearless, and generous spirits, it has not been
my lot to meet: social companions, firm friends, and with highly
cultivated minds, they possess an _esprit du corps_ which gives such
qualities their strongest attractions. They have made Baltimore to me
the "city of the soul."