_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 steam-boat soon after, in company
of several gentlemen from town. At the steam-boat wharf, a crowd of
citizens had assembled once more to see the respected chief of their
government, who is justly venerated by all intelligent men. When the
boat started, the crowd, consisting of well-dressed individuals, cheered
the president, who remained a long time uncovered. We descended the
Delaware about forty miles. This river becomes very large; 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
much esteemed by the president, and Captain Maclean of the garrison of
Halifax, who was travelling for his pleasure.
I also met with Mr. De Salazar, ambassador from Colombia, with his
secretary, Mr. Gomes, and the Mexican consul, Mr. Obregon: I had already
made the acquaintance of these gentlemen in New York. Their interesting
conversation, and the moderation of their views gave 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 steam-boats receive the passengers.
The president being in one of the stages, the drivers went on more
rapidly than customary. The road was in general sandy, and ran through
woods; we did not perceive any villages, as it soon became dark, and the
interesting conversation respecting 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, the machinery,
however, made a great noise, and produced a jarring motion.
The night was beautiful; the moonlight and the woody shores of the
river, produced a very fine effect. I remained a long 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, who was unable to sleep, talked
to himself, near me. We arrived very early next morning at Baltimore.
After our arrival, the president took a carriage for Washington, which
is only thirty-six miles distant. The greater part of the travellers
remained in bed until between six and seven o’clock. I went through the
somewhat solitary but regular 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 my arrival,
I received the visit of Mr. Huygens, son to the Chevalier Bangemann
Huygens, ambassador from the Netherlands, at Washington, 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 formed for increasing 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 seems tolerably animated; I saw a very great number of
negroes in the streets. The state of Maryland is the first on which I
set my foot where the slavery of negroes is legally maintained. Farther
to the south, this state of things is every where common. I merely
mention the fact; it does not belong to me to give opinions on so
delicate a subject. Still my journey convinced me of the truth of the
old observation, that inaccurate judgments are easily formed respecting
things not sufficiently known, which we have neither seen nor examined
ourselves. We first visited the Washington Monument, situated on a hill.
It is, or rather will be, erected by the state of Maryland; it consists
of a column of white marble one hundred and sixty feet high, it is to be
adorned with bas-reliefs of bronze, representing scenes from the life of
the hero. On the top of the column is to be placed the colossal statue
of this great man. But the requisite funds are wanting; 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 September, 1814. On a pedestal stands a
column representing 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 remarked
several fine public buildings, among which, some churches were very
distinguished. 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 ornamented, and contains several fine paintings, the
greater part of which, arrived during the French revolution. The
handsomest among them is a descent from the cross, by Gulein, in Paris,
which, according 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. Maréchal,[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 man of much spirit and activity. His exterior is of great
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 columns, and surmounted by a dome. The
English 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 Baltimore being very much scandalized at the
horns of Moses, the artist was obliged to take them off. Certain it is,
that the Moses on this church does not wear these ornaments. We saw
another building of recent construction, called the Athenæum, which was
built by subscription. We found there a small library and reading room
for American and English newspapers, and a concert room. Finally, we
went to a large building called the Exchange. 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 more agreeable 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 much to the
safety of Baltimore. The English disembarked their troops on the eastern
shore of the Patapsco--these were to attack the city by land, meanwhile
the fleet was to bombard, and to take Fort M‘Henry. The landed troops,
whose general, 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-ships
were anchored too far from the fort to allow the shells to do much
mischief. Not being able to obtain any advantage from this side, they
embarked troops in boats the following night, 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 small, and
ill-shaped; a pentagon with five little bastions, where at most but
three large guns 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 from the land by a wall, which might
rather prove injurious than advantageous. Near the water’s edge there is
a battery which can contain more than fifty guns for firing over the
beach. There are also some furnaces for heating cannon balls. It was
this battery which offered the greatest resistance to the British. It
contained heavy guns formerly belonging to a French man of war, which
were served by American sailors. One thousand five hundred men stood in
this narrow space, without a single bomb-proof building in the fort, not
even the powder-magazine, and notwithstanding, not more than thirty men
were killed and wounded. Since that time, the engineers have erected
bomb-proofs on each side of the gate, as well as a bomb-proof
powder-magazine, and a bomb-proof roof over the pump. The fort is in a
decayed condition, and is to be abandoned on account of its unimportant
situation. The engineers 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 autumnal dress of variegated leaves
presented a very handsome appearance. On returning, we ascended one of
the hills commanding the city, where we enjoyed a beautiful prospect. An
observatory situated here, announces the arrival of ships in the bay by
signals.
Dr. Macauley showed me the medical college, constructed at the expense
of the state of Maryland, a spacious and handsome building, decorated
with a portico. It contains an amphitheatre, sky-lighted 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 remarked a female wax figure representing a rupture of
the uterus, and several human embrios, abortions, and monsters. I saw
likewise a considerable collection of minerals, among which I saluted as
an old acquaintance, a basaltic column from the giant’s causeway in
Ireland. Seven professors lecture in the medical college; the lectures
are delivered during four months, from November to the end of February.
Near to the college is an infirmary belonging 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 museum is
occupied by the paintings of Rembrandt Peale. He succeeds very well in
some of his copies; for instance, King Lear braving the tempest, from
West; perhaps he is less successful in his originals, 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 some very interesting objects, which however, I had not time to
examine sufficiently in detail. The museum is arranged in two stories of
the buildings; the first contains various quadrupeds and birds,
I perceived a specimen of the duck-bill animal from New South Wales. The
birds are all indigenous, and are described in Wilson’s Ornithology. The
collection of American insects and butterflies is very handsome; among
them are several centipedes, large scorpions, and the mammoth spider
from South America, which kills the humming bird. 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; among these arms were a great number of
arrow-heads of flint, such as I had seen among 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, forms part of this
museum; the large teeth are missing, but the lower jaw bone[I-28] is
particularly well preserved; two weeks previous to my visit it had
fallen down along with the chain by which it had been suspended from the
ceiling, 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 must
regret 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 handsome collection of minerals. It is to be
regretted that so many rare things are not better arranged, 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 seems to me
that such a mill is well worth imitating, especially in Flanders, where
running water is so scarce. The machine which moves the wheels was made
by Bolton and Watt, of Soho, in England, and is of sixty horse-power.
This mill has eight pair of stones, of which there are commonly but four
worked at a time; most of the work, which in general is done by men,
is performed by machinery connected with the steam-engine; a long and
horizontal chest leads from the interior of the mill to the wharf, where
the vessels with grain lie; from the vessel, the wheat is poured in one
of the extremities of the chest, or rather channel, along whose whole
length 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 common reservoir, whence it is conveyed to a
bolting machine. The fine flour passes through a trough 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 workman fills the barrel with a shovel, pushes it on an iron
ring forming part of a scale, to weigh it, underneath a wooden block,
which acted upon by a lever presses the flour into the barrel; this
block, after being sponged in the common way, is again ready for
immediate use. Two hundred barrels of superfine flour can be furnished
daily by this mill, which works night and day; twelve workmen are
sufficient to attend to all the operations. The owner said he could do
with fewer, but was unwilling to dismiss them. The engine 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 miles distant from town, which was erected four
years ago, at the expense of the state of Maryland. The house consists
in a centre building, composed of the dwelling of the superintendent,
office, and store-house; farther off are two insulated wings, the one
for the men, the other for the females and children. The latter are
brought 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
schoolmasters, who, by drunkenness, had been reduced to beggary, and
lived as paupers in the house, taught them to read and write.
I observed, with regret, that they were both armed with whips. The poor
sleep in large airy rooms, the sick excepted, who are in separate
infirmaries situated in the wings of the building; each one has a
separate bed. Some infirm females only were in separate apartments,
where three or four occupied one room. Each wing 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 times a week they have meat, twice vegetables; and on
Fridays, as there are many Catholics, herrings. The building contains
two large court-yards, with all the shops necessary for several
mechanics, a large kitchen garden and all its dependencies of husbandry.
It is situated on an elevated ground of cleared woods, a considerable
number of acres of land appertaining to it, are cultivated by the poor.
They are employed according to their strength and capacity, particularly
in working for the house and in making their clothes. All the articles
not used by the establishment are sold. Every poor person on entering
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 time if
such a person is able to make his living in an honest manner, and
resolve upon his discharge. Those who conduct themselves ill in the
house are punished by solitary confinement. If they are sick on entering
the house, two physicians, who are attached to the establishment, visit
them daily and alternately; four students, also, from the medical
college lodge in the house, and two of them are constantly present. For
lunatics there are appropriate cells on the ground-floor.
I was twice in the Catholic Cathedral, the first time on Sunday, October
30th. The desire of hearing good music, decided me on going to this
church, and I had no occasion to repent it. At the beginning of the
service, I remained standing near the door, but being perceived, was
conducted to a pew near the altar. The archbishop was sitting on an
elevated chair, under a canopy. The music was particularly good, both in
composition and execution. There were ladies attached to the choir, and
it was a lady who played the organ. The charity sermon, by Mr. Wheeler,
on charity and on the pleasure of doing good, was very edifying. This
text had been chosen to move the hearts of the congregation, in behalf
of the Catholic poor-school. Several days after, I returned to the
Cathedral, in company with Mr. Vallenilla, (attached to the Colombian
legation, and who had lately been married here,) to see Dr. Fenwick
consecrated bishop of Boston. The church was crowded; it was with
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 masterly style. I do not remember to have heard such good music for
a long time. The best female voices were those of Mrs. French, Mrs.
Gilles, and Miss Olivia Donaldson, sister-in-law to Mr. Vallenilla. The
ceremony lasted very long. 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 mitre of
cloth of gold and his gilded crosier-staff. He was served by the bishops
of Charleston and Philadelphia, who wore mitres of cloth of silver. The
first, Mr. England, delivered a long sermon, with a strong Irish accent,
of which I did not understand much, except that he drew a comparison
between a republican state citizen and a good 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 Baltimore; at dinners every thing
was unceremonious, and the conversation very instructive and lively; the
evening parties afforded excellent music; the ladies in general are very
handsome, and sing very 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 me great pleasure. I found him a very plain, modest and interesting
man.
In paying Mr. Thomas my parting visit, I met his father, eighty-eight
years old, and in full possession of his mental faculties. I entertained
myself a long time with him. Among other topics, he related to me, that
he had seen the spot which the city of Baltimore now occupies, a forest
inhabited by Indians.