416 
view of the bay. The late owner ac- 
euired an immense property in the East 
Indies, and by bringing over excellent 
breeds of cattle from England, contri- 
buted to his usefulness and celebrity. 
But his public-spirited plans for sup- 
vlying Balumore, and the shipping, with 
water, by means of pipes, and his otaer 
encouragements to the rising prosperity 
ef the city, together with his unbounded 
hospitality and charity, have endeared his 
memory to the public, to his friends, and 
to the unfortunate, 
In the afternoon, I went to the fort, 
where there is a good tavern: It is a re- 
sort on Sundays for purposes of plea- 
sure. There were about fifty soldiers on 
the evening parade. The fort was 
erected about five years ago. 
angular, the entrance facing the east-by- 
north, three of its sides the east, south- 
éast, and east-by-south, which command 
the entrance in the bason, the bay, and 
Patapsico river. They mount 28 and 
48-pounders. Over the gateway im the 
entrance, and niched into the_ brick- 
work, is a piece of beautiful sculpture 
in stohe, representing the Eagle and 
Seventeen States. The sculptor was a 
Frenchman. Nearly opposite the en- 
trance, and about two hundred yards 
from it, is the old fort, which was made 
principally by the citizens themselves, on 
the alarm of a French war. 
The spirit of gambling 1s considerable 
in Baltimore, and dissipation of all kinds 
very prevalent, I accompanied a gen- 
tleman to a raffle; at Bryden’s tavern : 
it was for a time-piece of considerable 
value. After that was raffled for, the 
company began to play with dice, at a 
game called snap and rafile. The next 
day, somebody informed against forty of 
them, and the fine was fifteen dollars a- 
head, halfto the corporation and half to 
the informer ; but it being optional in the 
mayor to remit the one-half, he did so, 
merely, I fancy, because they were Called 
gentlemen, and did not exactly come 
under the description of gamblers by 
profession. : 
Jan. 28.—At last I met with B——- this 
morning: he had been at George Town. 
He attended once the debates in Con- 
gress, but the place is so large, he could 
not understand what was said. He gave 
me some account of a masquerade and 
ball, at which were present all the diplo- 
matic characters. The Tripolitan am- 
bassador teok a fancy to a young lady 
of tolerable en-bon-point. In the morn 
ang, be waited upon the president, and 
Abstract of a Journal kept in Mariland. 
Tt is oct- 
[Dec. 15 
requested permission to take five wives; — 
at the same time pointing out the above- 
mentioned lady as one. The president 
with a smile intimated the inypracticas 
bility of granting his request, and ob- 
served, that in this country, it was no 
easy thing to obtain one. 
The public mind is much agitated re- 
specting British spoliations on American 
commerce. ‘The late new ground ad- 
vanced about the continagity of voyage 
from the colonies to the enemy’s country, 
and upon which British ships of war have 
begun to capture Américan vessels, has 
irritated the people beyond description. 
An Englishman is in very low estimation 
in Baltimore, and still wer in Philadel- 
phia, with the majority of the people. 
It is true, there are many candid and up — 
right men, who discriminate between 
the mad infatuation of the British cas 
binet, and the peaceful wishes of the 
British people. Nothing can manifest 
the temper of the times more than the 
circumstance of Mr. Wright, a senator 
from the eastern shore, having brought 
in a bill for the purpose of enceuraging 
sailors to resist British impressment, by 
bounties, and giving the president @ 
power to retaliate upon any Englishman 
in this country, to the extent of injury 
inflicted on any American sailor by thé 
King’s ships. A memorial was read here. 
the other night to be sent to Congress. 
It has since been published. One feature 
of the British law is noticed, as extremely 
inconsistent and absurd. To break the 
continuity of a voyage from the enemy’s 
colonies to the mother country, the pro- 
duce must not only be unshipped, and 
the duties paid, but it must be likewise 
sold. Now it is very strange that the 
merchant should have no right to re-ship 
his own property, because that would be 
deemed a continuity of voyage; but he 
may sell that right to another, by selling 
him his unshipped cargo. It seems to be 
a regulation originating in envious ma- 
lignity at the American commerce, 
fraught with incongruity, and pregnant 
with embarrassment and oppression to 
the American merchant, without prd= 
mising any adequate mercantile advan- 
tages to Great Britain. It is true, she 
may capture a number of ships, and has 
so done; but will it redound to her ho- 
nour, and correspond with her loud — 
professions of fair, open, and manly 
dealing, to have sent this new law of na= 
tions clandestinely to her commanders 
of ships on the American station, without 
previously acquainting the American mi- 
nuster 
