ive
nature of her prayer for aid.

When we had again started upon our new wheel, the driver, to
recover the time he had lost, drove rapidly over a very rough
road, in consequence of which, our self-seeking old lady fell
into a perfect agony of terror, and her cries of "we shall be
over! oh, Lord! we shall be over! we must over! we shall be
over!" lasted to the end of the stage which with laughing,
walking, and shaking, was a most fatiguing one.

CHAPTER 19

Baltimore--Catholic Cathedral--St. Mary's--College Sermons--
Infant School

As we advanced towards Baltimore the look of cultivation
increased, the fences wore an air of greater neatness, the houses
began to look like the abodes of competence and comfort, and we
were consoled for the loss of the beautiful mountains by knowing
that we were approaching the Atlantic.

From the time of quitting the Ohio river, though, unquestionably,
it merits its title of "the beautiful," especially when compared
with the dreary Mississippi, I strongly felt the truth of an
observation I remembered to have heard in England, that little
rivers were more beautiful than great ones. As features in a
landscape, this is assuredly the case. Where the stream is so
wide that the objects on the opposite shore are indistinct, all
the beauty must be derived from the water itself; whereas, when
the stream is narrow, it becomes only a part of the composition.
The Monongahela, which is in size between the Wye and the Thames,
is infinitely more picturesque than the Ohio.

To enjoy the beauty of the vast rivers of this vast country you
must be upon the water; and then the power of changing the
scenery by now approaching one shore, and now the other, is very
pleasing; but travelling as we now did, by land, the wild, rocky,
narrow, rapid little rivers we encountered, were a thousand times
more beautiful. The Potapsco, near which the road runs, as you
approach Baltimore, is at many points very picturesque. The
large blocks of grey rock, now close upon its edge, and now
retiring to give room for a few acres of bright green herbage,
give great interest and variety to its course.

Baltimore is, I think, one of the handsomest cities to approach
in the Union. The noble column erected to the memory of
Washington, and the Catholic Cathedral, with its beautiful dome,
being built on a commanding eminence, are seen at a great
distance. As you draw nearer, many other domes and towers becom