akes an abrupt curve, as it sweeps round the marshy woodlands through
which the Patapsco opens into the bay; so that you have a fair view of
the entire city, swelling always upwards from the water's edge, on a
cluster of low, irregular hills, to the summit of Mount Vernon. From
that highest point soars skyward a white, glistening pillar crowned by
Washington's statue. I have seldom seen a monument better placed, and it
is worthy of its advantages. The figure retains much of the strength and
grace for which in life it was renowned, and, if ever features were
created, worthy of the deftest sculptor and the purest marble, such,
surely, was the birthright of that noble, serene face.

No one, that has sojourned in Washington, can be ten minutes in
Baltimore without being aware of a great and refreshing change. You
leave the hurry and bustle of traffic behind at the railway station, and
are never subjected to such nuisances till you return thither. Even in
the exclusively commercial squares of the city there reigns comparative
leisure, for, except in the establishments of government contractors, or
others directly connected with the supply of the army, business is by no
means brisk just now. You may pass through Baltimore street, the main
artery bisecting the town from east to west, at any hour, without
encountering a denser or busier throng than you would meet in Regent
street, any afternoon _out_ of the season, and, about the usual
promenade time, the proportion of fair _flancuses_, to the meaner
masculine herd, would be nearly the same.

I betook myself to Guy's hotel, which had been recommended to me as
quiet and comfortable: for many people it would have been _too_ quiet.
The black waiters carried the science of "taking things easy" to a rare
perfection; they were thoroughly polite, and even kindly in manner, and
never dreamed of objecting to any practicable order, but--as for
carrying it out within any specified time--_altra cosa_. After a few
vain attempts and futile remonstrances, the prudent and philosophical
guest would recognize resignedly the absolute impossibility of obtaining
breakfast, however simple, under forty-five minutes from the moment of
commanding the same; indeed that was very good time, and I positively
aver that I have waited longer for eggs, tea, and toast. I never tried
abuse or reproach, for I chanced, early in my stay, to be present when
an impatient traveler voided the vials of his wrath on the