tleman standing near," what church that was?" He smiled, and replied, "that is the line of opposition;" alluding to the opposition lines of stages and steamboats. But of all the splendid buildings in Baltimore, or any where else, the masonic hall is the most so; language would fail me, were I to attempt a description of it; (the interior I mean,) the beauty and richness of the furniture is not exceeded by that of congress hall itself. The rich drapery, superb tables and chairs, and an hundred things which decorate the G. Master's chair of state, the candlesticks, the finest carpets, and the great size of the hall, filled me with amazement: it was hung in mourning for Mr. Pinckney, whose death has long since been noticed, who belonged to the fraternity. The Baltimoreans seem to be taking the lead in the fine arts. Besides those specimens of taste and public spirit already mentioned, the Washington monument, and that erected to the memory of those brave men who fell in the battle of Baltimore, in the late war, command both admiration and applause. The Washington monument is a plain marble pillar, 150 feet high from the ground; it is 50 feet square at the bottom, and 14 at the and looktop, and white as alabaster-upon the top of this, the figure of Washington is to be placed. This beautiful monument is seen from every part of the city. for a su jour, just to excel ented to body of und the ead and g on the her eyes ver her: The monument erected to perpetuate the battle of North Point, was executed by Maximilian Godfrey, Esq. in 1815. It is 16 feet each front; each of those fronts have a door of black marble, which are four in number. Above this arises a circular facis, of symbolical union, on the fillets of which are inscribed the names of those to whose memory the monument is consecrated. Above the cornice, and at the four angles socle of the facis. are four marble griffins; the base of the facis is ornamented with two basso-relievos, representing the battle of North 0 per an-Point, and the bombardment of Fort M'Henry. Two lachrymal urns are placed in the intervals. The top of the facis is bound with two crowns, demi-relief. The facis is surmounted with a socle, bearing a statue of Baltimore, formed from the representation of Juno Cybele, e to the it in size this last, hed a gen holding a crown in one hand, and an antique helm in the to any States architec Latrobe. rm of a wed it to has four tters on and or in stuc 2e cathe reddish . Mary ads raised ing near elife, and e crown as though :from the ༡༤ of our Saviour athedral, caven. 1 other, with the United States' eagle, and a bomb along side; the whole is of marble, and fifty-four feet high Laying the corner stone of this monument, for pomp an military eclat, constitutes an era in the history of Balti more. Hospital. The hospital is seated upon a lofty emin ence at the east end of the city, a mile from thence, an has more the appearance (in idea) of a princely palace than the abode of pain and disease. It consists of tw great buildings, to which are attached a spacious yar which is walled in; this is overgrown with luxuria grass, and planted with trees; the whole architecture of brick. The gate is locked day and night, and a ina duly stationed on the inside, to open it for those who a ply for admittance, for which you pay him 12 1-2 cent you then have liberty to visit the whole establishmen The keeper, who is a plain, honest, obliging Quaker, v ry readily conducted me through the apartments. T buildings have a long gallery running through them fro end to end, on cach side of which are handsome apar ments for the sick and insane. Those apartments (e cept the insane) are lighted with large windows, and fu nished with bedding, chairs and tables, the whole exqu sitely neat, and even splendid. It is against the rules the institution to suffer strangers to see the insane; th prohibition proceeds from motives of delicacy towar the friends and relations of the afflicted, who do not wi h them exposed. The doors of their cells are secur d with bars of iron, and heated by furnaces placed in t outside of the wall, one to every room, which conves the heat to the patient. I looked into some of the e cells, which were vacant; they were similar to those c cupied by the sick, excepting the bedsteads, which we e of iron, and without chairs or tables. Though I coud not see these unfortunate beings, I could hear them t ter the most shocking oaths! Those patients who at not so ill as to be confined, are permitted to walk abo the yard, and amuse themselves in the public parts the building, the managers taking care to guard against them by having the seats and tables in their dining rocal fastened to the floor. Their food is the best the mark: of Balti. balong. affords, particularly the bread, which is of the finest met high. sort. There were no sick worth naming in the hospital, mp and except sailors; one portion of the hospital is appropriated for the exclusive reception of sick sailors, being one entire room, in which I found about thirty of those brave sons of Neptune, laid low enough! They were crowded to suffocation, and made a wretched appearance: some of the poor fellows, however, seemed to have nearly completed the voyage of this boisterous life! I cannot applaud that rigid adherence to established rule, which in this case excludes these sailors from any other part of the building than that alotted to them. There were empty rooms in the hospital at this time, suffieient to hold 200 persons, and humanity, I should think, ought to overrule an illiberal provision, by allowing those unhappy sufferers to be disposed of in a manner more consistent with their situation. by emin nce, and palace, is of two us yard, luxuriant ecture is nd a man who ap 1-2 cents. ishment. aker, ve ts. The " After visiting the different parts within the buildings, hem from the keeper conducted me through the roof aloft, upon ne apart the top. From the situation of the hospital alone, which, ents (exas already noticed, stands upon a high hill, and the height , and fur we had then attained, the beauty and extent of the prosle exqui pect may easily be conceived. The whole city of Bale rules o timore, with its grand edifices, the wharfs crowded with ane; this the busy multitude, the wide spreading Patapsco, visible towards for miles, the shipping, and the adjacent country seats, not wish present to the eye one of the finest pictures imaginable. e secured The site of Baltimore somewhat resembles that of Washced in the ington, but the adjacent country, in point of beauty, does . conveys not equal the latter. Those beautiful rising grounds, of these spotted with farms and superb buildings, intermingled those oc with the richest foliage, which encompass Washington, hich were rising up one behind another, gives it the advantage in h I could regard to scenery. My conductor pointed out to me them ut North Point, and Fort McHenry, where the battle was who are fought between the Americans and British, during the alk about late war. The day on which this engagement took parts of place, must have been one of deep excitement to the citrd against izens of Baltimore. Brave men! How richly you deing room serve the admiration of succeeding ages, which will be The markeyours. As I descended from the top of the hospital with my friend, in passing through one of the galleries, my at tention was attracted by a man who was crouched close to the wall. He wore a smile of mischievous cunning; and seemed meditating some plan of attacking us. He clenched his fists as we drew near, and bent his eye on me; I drew up close to my conductor, taking care to keep him between me and the lunatic, for such I took him to be. When we came opposite to him, he seemed upon the point of springing upon me; my friend without speaking a word, raised a cane which he carried in his hand, and we passed him in safety; but the moment we passed him, he rushed forward in the opposite direc tion, and flew down stairs with surprising swiftness. Whilst we followed him with our eyes lingering on the spot without uttering a word, a gentleman of good ap. pearance, well dressed, and of a genteel air, walked de liberately by us. As he had nothing uncommon in his behaviour, I concluded he must be one of the attending physicians; what was my surprise when the keeper informed me that he also was one of the convalescent lu natics! I should not court a residence amongst these convalescents; they might in some unguarded moment rise upon me as Sampson did upon the Philistines, and crush me before I had time to call for assistance. Prison.-From the hospital I went to the prison, which is also in the suburbs of the city; it is likewise a large building of brick, several stories high, and has an extensive yard attached to it, enclosed by a wall of con. siderable height. At the opposite end of this wall stands the penitentiary, also a fine brick building. The prison is secured by a double gate, and huge bars of iron; the opening of which takes up no little time. I found thirty prisoners, including the debtors; which last are kept separate from the criminals. The apartments were not large, and several were confined in one room; all have the privilege of walking in the yard at certain hours of the day. They looked cheerful, and bore the appear. ance of kind treatment, though they were all destitute of bedding, except those that were able to furnish it them selves. The apartments are warmed by stoves. But rried in moment e direc. iftness. may feelings were much shocked upon finding amongst the prisoners, six females confined for debt,* and without even a blanket to repose on, or a seat of any description. I offered a few words of consolation to these unfortunate females, at which several of them burst into tears, and cast on me a look which I shall never forget, as I hastened abrubtly from the scene! The keeper happened to say in the presence of the male prisoners, "that I was going to write their history;" one of them (a criminal) spoke out, laughing at the same time, that " he hoped would say something clever about him." I was unable to get into the penitentiary, though I saw the prisoners at work from the walls; they were clean and neat in their dress, and looked well. The keepers both of on the the prison and penitentiary were meu of much apparent od ap humanity and mildness, as well as experience and eduked decation; such as ought always to be selected for such places; a brutal keeper, such as I have seen, has it too much tending in his power to exercise cruelty toward his fellow creaeper intures; why it is the case is not material, but certain it eper in is, give an ignorant man power over the liberty of his st these fellow men, and he will exercise it without mercy. moment Much credit is due to the constituted authorities of MaEes, and ryland, whoever they may be, for giving such obvious proofs of humanity and attention toward their felprison,low men. ewise a Colleges. I met with a total defeat on the subject of the colleges: the president, or principals, were absent, except in that restricted (as I was told,) to the education of priests. I found only a French priest, who e prison could speak hardly a word of English, and withal apthe peared rather averse to giving me any information. He d thirty had on a woollen night-cap, and the rest of his dress are kept accorded therewith. n in bis Tu cent lu has an ¡ of constands stands heron; were not all have hours of $$ the with my at d close nning; 5. He cye on care to al took seemed d with appear stitute of it themBes. But His face was wrinkled with age, or ill humor; and in short he looked more like something broke loose from bedlam than any thing else. Upon making my business known to him, he jabbered something which I could not understand, and wheeled to the right about, and marched off without more ceremo • Since writing the above, Maryland has abolished the law for int prisoning females. |