Baltimore and its Associations. Washington's Monument CHAPTER VII. "Hear the holy Sabbath bells, Oh what a world of peaceful rest How sweetly at the dawning Of a pleasant Sabbath morning, And the chiming Of the bells!"-H. S. NOLEN. UNDAY was as mild and bright in Baltimore as a Sabbath in May, although Annapolis was the only city in Maryland, is a city of the present; and yet, in extent, commerce, I passed half an hour in the Roman Catholic cathedral during the matin services. Toward noon I listened to a persuasive sermon from the lips of Doctor Johns, of Christ Church (brother of the Virginia bishop), predicated upon the words of Moses to Hobah;' employed the remainder of the day in reading; and, early on Monday morning, started out, with port-folio and pencil, to visit the celebrities of the city. The noble monument erected by the State of Maryland in honor of Washington is the object of first and greatest attraction to visitors. It stands in the center of a small square, at the intersection of Monument and Charles Streets, in the fashionable quarter of the city, one hundred and fifty feet above tide-water. It is composed of a base of white marble, fifty feet square, and twenty feet in height, with a Doric column, one hundred and sixty feet in height, and twenty feet in diameter at the base, gradually tapering upward to a handsomely-formed capital. WASHINGTON MONUMENT.3 The census for 1850, which shows this result, also exhibits a case of remarkable longevity in BaltiSukey Wright, a colored woman, whose age is well certified, was then 120 years old. She had a child twenty-five years of age when the Revolutionary war broke out in 1775. more. 2 "We are journeying toward the land of which the Lord said, I will give it you, and we will do thee good."-Numbers, x., 29. 3 The following are the inscriptions on the monument: East front.-"To GEORGE WASHINGTON, by the State of Maryland. Born 22d February, 1732. Died 14th December, 1799." South front.-" To GEORGE WASHINGTON, President of the United States, 4th March, 1789. Returned to Mount Vernon, 4th Maryland Historical Society. Pulaski's Banner. Moravian Nuns at Bethlehem. Upon the top is a statue of Washington, by Causici, sixteen feet in height, which is reached by a winding stair-way on the interior. It represents the chief in the act of resigning his commission. The statue cost nine thousand dollars. The ground on which the monument stands was given for the purpose by John Eager Howard, the "hero of the Cowpens." The corner stone of the monument was laid on the 4th of July, 1815, with imposing ceremonies. This view is from Monument Street, looking northeast. The Battle Monument, near Barnum's Hotel, erected to the memory of those who fell in defense of Baltimore in 1814, is beautiful and chaste in design and execution, and is an ornament to the city. It cost about sixty thousand dollars. A description of this structure, and copies of the inscriptions upon it, are given in a note on page 188. After sketching these mementoes, I visited the rooms of the Maryland Historical Society, bearing a letter of introduction to its president, General Smith, a son of Colonel Samuel Smith, the hero of Fort Mifflin, portrayed on page 90. To that gentleman, and to President N. C. Brooks, of the Baltimore Female College, I am indebted for kind attentions and local information. The Historical Society is young, but vigorous and flourishing Its collection contains but few relics of the Revolution worthy of special notice. There is an old painting representing Yorktown, in Virginia, in 1781, and also a portrait of Governor John Eager Howard, a copy of which will be found in another part of this work. One of the most interesting relics which I saw during my tour is carefully preserved in the library of the society-the crimson banner of the Count Pulaski, beautifully wrought by the Mora vian sisters, at Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania. Count Pulaski (whose portrait and biogra phy will be hereafter given) was appointed a brigadier in the Continental army on the 15th of September, 1777, just after the battle on the Brandywine, in which he participated, and was honored with the command of the cavalry. He resigned this honor within a few months, and asked and obtained permission from Congress to raise and command an independent corps, to consist of sixty-eight horse and two hundred foot. The mode March 28, of raising these was left to the direction of General Washington.' This corps was chiefly raised, and fully organized in Baltimore in 1778. Pulaski visited La Fayette while that wounded officer was a recipient of the pious care and hospitality of the Moravians at Bethlehem. His presence, and eventful history, made a deep impression upon the minds of that community. When it was known that the brave Pole was organizing a corps of cavalry in Baltimore, the nuns, or single women of Bethlehem, prepared a banner of crimson 1778. March, 1797." West front.-"TO GEORGE WASHINGTON. Trenton, 25th December, 1776. Yorktown, 19th October, 1781." North front.-" To GEORGE WASHINGTON. Commander-in-chief of the American armies, 15th June, 1775. Commission resigned at Annapolis, 23d December, 1783." 1 Journals of Congress, iv., 127. The word nun, as applied to the single sisters of the Moravian sect, has a different meaning than when applied to the recluses of the Roman Catholic Church. De Chastellux, who visited Bethlehem in 1782, says of the community: "Their police, or discipline, is of the monastic kind, since they recommend celibacy, but without enjoining it, and keep the women separate from the men. There is a particular house, also, for the widows, which I did not visit. The two sexes being thus habitually separated, none of those familiar connections exist between them which lead to marriage; nay, it is even contrary to the spirit of the sect to marry from inclination. If a young man finds himself sufficiently at ease to keep house for himself, and maintain a wife and children, he presents himself to the commissary, and asks for a girl, who, after consulting with the superintendent of the women, proposes one to him, which he may, in fact, refuse to accept; but it is contrary to custom to choose a wife for himself. Accordingly, the Moravian colonies have not multiplied in any proportion to the other American colonies. That at Bethlehem is composed of about six hundred persons, more than half of whom live in a state of celibacy." De Chastellux visited the "house for single women," a spacious stone edifice, provided with well-heated rooms for working in, and a large vaulted chamber, well ventilated, where all the girls slept in single beds. He refers to their skill in embroidery. His whole account of his visit is an interesting picture of the simple habits of the Moravians. He says they "have no bishops, being governed by synods." They have had bishops from the beginning, but their office allows them no elevation of rank or pre-eminent authority; and the communities are, indeed, governed by councils, or synods, composed of deputies from the different congregations, who meet in conference once in seven years. There are two bishops in the United States at present. The principal Moravian establishments are at Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania, and Salem, in North Carolina. Their mar riage and other customs have materially changed within the last thirty years. "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns." Patriotism in Baltimore. Committees of Correspondence and Observation. silk, with designs beautifully wrought with the needle by their own hands, and sent it to Pulaski, with their blessing. The memory of this event is embalmed in verse by Longfel low, in the following beautiful "HYMN OF THE MORAVIAN NUNS AT THE CONSECRATION OF PULASKI'S BANNER. "When the dying flame of day Through the chancel shot its ray, And the censer burning swung, When before the altar hung That proud banner, which, with pray'r, Had been consecrated there; And the nuns' sweet hymn was heard the while, Sung low in the dim mysterious aisle. "Take thy banner. May it wave "Take thy banner; and, beneath Guard it-God will prosper thee! In the dark and trying hour, In the rush of steeds and men, His right hand will shield thee then. "Take thy banner. Closes round the ghastly fight, If the vanquish'd warrior bow, Spare him-he our love hath shared ; "Take thy banner; and, if e'er Thou should'st press the soldier's bier, His Pulaski received the banner with grateful acknowledgments, and bore it gallantly through many a martial scene, until he fell in conflict at Savannah in the autumn of 1779. banner was saved by his first lieutenant (who received fourteen wounds), and delivered to Captain Bentalon, who, on retiring from the army, took the banner home with him to Baltimore.' b November 12. ร When oppression began to awaken a spirit of general resistance throughout the colonies, "Baltimore towne" was not behind its sister communities in zeal and action. A meeting a May 27. was held there in 1774, a when the people generally agreed to support nonintercourse measures. Afterward they elected a Committee of Observation, b and also appointed a committee of correspondence. These committees were exceedingly vigilant and active in watching the disaffected, giving information of importance to their brethren abroad, and in passing intelligence between the patriots of the North and the South. They were no respecter of persons, and Loyalists of every grade came under their surveil Anburey and the Baroness Riedesel were also in Bethlehem, and speak in the highest terms of the Moravians. It was used in the procession that welcomed La Fayette to that city in 1824, and was then deposited in Peale's Museum. On that occasion, it was ceremoniously received by several young ladies. Mr. Edmund Peale presented it to the Maryland Historical Society in 1844, where it is now carefully preserved in a glass case. But little of its former beauty remains. It is composed of double crimson silk, now faded to a dull brownish red. The designs on each side, as represented on the following page, are embroidered with yellow silk, the letters shaded with green. A deep green bullion fringe ornaments the edges. The size of the banner is twenty inches square. It was attached to a lance when borne to the field. Andrew Buchanan was chosen chairman, and Robert Alexander clerk or secretary. 3 This committee, consisting of twenty-nine of the leading men of Baltimore, was elected by the qualified voters, at a town meeting, regularly assembled at the court-house. They not only took cognizance of political matters, but assumed a general supervision of the public morals, not by coercive measures, but by advice. Among other things, they recommended the discontinuance of fairs in Baltimore, and denounced them as nuisances, conducive to "mischiefs and disorders," "serving no other purpose than debauching the morals of their children and servants," and "encouraging riots, drunkenness, gaming, and the vilest immoralities." Horse-racing, cock-fighting, general extravagance, and dissipation were inveighed against, not only as wrong, but as derogatory to the character of patriots at that solemn hour (1775). The following are the names of this committee: Robert Alexander, Samuel Purviance, Jr., Andrew Buchanan, Doctor John Boyd, John Moale, Jeremiah Townly Chase, William Buchanan, and William Lux. Four members constituted a quorum for the transaction of business. Treatment of Loyalists. Meeting of Congress in Baltimore. La Fayette in Baltimore. lance. The Reverend Mr. Edmiston, pastor of St. Thomas's parish, was arraigned before I have mentioned the fact (page 18) that, on the approach of the royal troops toward the Delaware, in 1776, Congress, then in session in Philadelphia, adjourned to Baltimore. Their first meeting in that city, pursuant to adjournment, was on the 20th of December. They met, and continued their ses1776. sion in the spacious brick building yet standing on Baltimore, Sharpe, and Liberty Streets. VITAS Quo» VIRTUS The Reverend Patrick Allison, first minister of the Presbyterian church of Baltimore, and Reverend W. White, were appointed chaplains on the 23d. It was there, on the 27th of December, two days after the battle at Trenton, that Congress, by resolution, delegated so much of their powers to Washington, for six months, as made him a military dictator, a fact already noticed on page 25. Through a local committee of Congress, left in Philadelphia, efficient cooperation with the army was secured, and the whole military establishment, as we have seen (page 34), was placed in a higher and more effective condition than it had been since the organization of the army. PULASKI'S BANNER.2 Congress continued in session When La Fayette passed at a ball?" asked one of the gay belles. "I can not enjoy many of the poor soldiers are without shirts and other necessaries." them," was the noble reply of the ladies; and the gayety of the ball-room was exchanged for the sober but earnest services of the needle. They assembled the next day in great numbers to make up clothing for the soldiers, of materials furnished by fathers and husbands.' One gentleman, out of his limited means, gave La Fayette five hundred dollars to aid him 1 Purviance's Narrative, pages 12-13. 2 On one side of the banner are the letters U. S., and, in a circle around them, the words UNITAS VIRTUS FORCIOR: "Union makes valor stronger." The letter c in the last word is incorrect; it should be T. On the other side, in the center, is the All-seeing Eye, with the words NON ALIUS REGIT: "No other governs." This view is from Baltimore Street, looking southeast. The front on the left is on Baltimore Street; the other is on Liberty Street. Its first story is now used for commercial purposes; otherwise it exhibits the same external appearance as when Congress assembled there. *M'Sherry's History of Maryland, p. 229. 250% Journey to Annapolis. Departure from the Right Road. Hospitality. City of Annapolis. in clothing his soldiers. His wife, with her own hands, cut out five hundred pairs of pan. taloons, and superintended the making of them.' In the passage of troops between the Northern and Southern States, Baltimore was often the scene of activity and excitement; beyond this, it has but little military history connected with our subject. Its statesmen and soldiers did good service in the forum and in the field, and their names and deeds are conspicuously recorded in various portions of these volumes. We will make Annapolis, the old capital of Maryland, our point of view, in taking a survey of the general history of the state, for that city was the soul and center of action during the Revolution. December 4, 1848. I left Baltimore for Annapolis, thirty miles southward, at a little after three o'clock, crossing the Patapsco River at sunset, upon a long, rickety draw-bridge, having a toll-gatherer at the southern end. The sky was clear, and the moon being sufficiently advanced in illumination to promise a fair degree of light, I resolved to push forward as far as the "half-way house," fifteen miles from Baltimore, before halting. Soon after leaving the bridge, the road penetrated a forest of oaks and chestnuts, filled with those beautiful evergreens, the laurel and the holly. Passing several cultivated openings where the country was rolling, I reached a level, sandy region, and at dark entered a forest of pines, its deep shadows relieved occasionally by small openings recently made by the woodman's ax. I had passed only two small houses in a journey of six miles, and without seeing the face of a living creature, when I met a negro man and woman, and inquired for the "halfway house." The woman assured me that it was two miles ahead; and, in the plenitude of her kind feelings, promised that I should find "plenty o' liquor dar." After driving at least four miles, I perceived that I had "run off the track," mistaking one of the numerous branches of the main road for the highway itself. After traversing the deep, sandy way, in the gloom, until almost eight o'clock, when traveler and horse were thoroughly wearied, I was cheered by the barking of a dog, and in a few moments crossed a stream, and came in sight of a spacious mansion, surrounded by many broad acres of cultivation. The merry voices of children, who were playing in the lane, were hushed as I halted at the gate and hailed. A servant swung it wide open for my entrance, and when I asked for entertainment for the night, the kindest hospitality was extended. The proprietor of the plantation was the widow of a Methodist clergyman, who was drowned in the Severn a few years ago. Her mother, residing with her, had been, in former years, a parishioner of my own pastor, the Reverend Stephen H. Tyng, D.D. This fact was a sympathetic link; and a home feeling, with its gentle influence, came over me as the evening passed away in pleasant conversation. I left the mansion of Mrs. Robinson, the next morning, with real regret. I had there a foretaste of that open hospitality which I experienced every where at the South, and must ever remember with gratitude. Under the guidance of a servant, I traversed a private road, to the public one leading to Annapolis. The highway passes through a barren region until within two miles of the town, relieved, occasionally, by a few cultivated spots; and so sinuous was its course, that I crossed the Baltimore and Annapolis rail-way seven times in a distance of thirteen miles. The deep sand made the journey toilsome, and extended its duration until almost an hour past meridian. Annapolis is apparently and really an old town. Many of its houses are of the hip-roofed style of an earlier generation, with the distinctive features of Southern houses, so odd in appearance to the eyes of a Northern man-the chimneys projecting from the gable, from the ground to their tops. The city is beautifully located on the south branch of the River Severn, upon a peninsula formed by Acton's and Covey's Creeks, which rise within half a mile of each other. It commands an extensive view of the Chesapeake Bay and the surrounding This gentleman was Mr. Poe. His widow, the lady who cut out the garments, was living when La Fayette visited Baltimore in 1824. The two patriots met, and the scene was one of peculiar interest.— See Niles's Register, 24th October, 1824. |